Autopsy and the People
Earlier today I was speaking to a good friend, a medical doctor when the topic comes around to autopsies. Due to a mutual friend that recently passed. He asked if the cause of death of this our young friend was ascertained. I told him no, no one tried.
What is an autopsy?
Autopsy, sometimes called necropsy, is simply surgically examining a dead body for the cause of death or the extent of changes due to disease. This specialized medical procedure is done by special doctors known as a pathologist.
An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause and manner of death, to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present or research or educational purposes. It is usually performed by a specialized medical doctor called a pathologist.
An autopsy may be done as a result of either legal or medical purpose. In Nigeria, it is majorly done for legal purposes, especially in contentious deaths where foul play is suspected which usually involves the high profile individuals or when government steps in.
A good case of the government wading in to perform autopsy happened on July 8, 2012, at a city Owerri, Imo State in South East Nigeria. A family of nine that came back to bury their mother died mysteriously.
See full details of the story here:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/07/owerri-and-a-whole-family-perished/
Some key points that necessitated government wading in to do autopsies could be seen here from the article above:
The policemen from Owerri North Police Division, who came to the scene in three patrol vans, quickly beat a retreat on sighting the angry youths. Some sympathizers lost valuable personal effects in their bid to scamper for safety. Mr. Chinazo Ilechukwu and Chief Jude Ajaero, both of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, and our Correspondent did the race of their lives.
But a quick autopsy was done and the result of this unfortunate incident that could have resulted in more loss of lives in retaliatory attacks was averted.
He read out portions of the autopsy report released by the State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Joe Obi-Njoku, which confirmed that the nine persons died from suffocation after inhaling carbon monoxide from a generating set.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/10/suffocation-emekuku-seven-buried-in-one-grave/
Reasons Some Do Not Do Autopsy
These are some reasons I have that made many, especially Nigerians not do an autopsy.
- Importance of autopsy
Many just do not know the importance of it. Some are so overwhelmed with grief, and rightly so, to even consider autopsy as a thing that should be done when that young person passes.
- Belief
Some cultural and religious beliefs make it hard to have an autopsy performed on the deceased. That belief that a dead body is sacred and should not be tampered with makes it so hard to do it in most circumstances.
- The Cost
The death business is one that is filled with a lot of expense, adding the cost of performing an autopsy, which many views literally as "medicine after death" does not come easy. This added cost of between one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand Naira (about $270 to $540) is not something many may agree to pay.
- Lack of manpower
There is simply not enough people qualified as pathologists in Nigeria.
Reasons we should do autopsy in certain deaths
Closure
Yeah, the person is gone, but it would bring a sort of closure if you know what killed him or her. That is particularly useful in the case of a seemingly perfectly healthy young person's death.
As a preemptive measure
That is important in the event of a close family member, eg a father, mother or sibling's death. Since there is a genetic connection, the disease or ailment could be hereditary. There you may run a risk of doing things that would make you more predisposed to the same fate unless you take some preventive measures or change of lifestyle.
Educational Purpose
The cause of death may just be something new which the medical community would like to know about. Though that could be the last thing on a grieving person's mind. That could be an altruistic gesture, or maybe not so altruistic, as the deceased family may stand to benefit from a healthier society.Quality Assurance/Negligence
Most deaths in Africa has the phrase "God's will" attached to it when some deaths could be traced to negligence or bad medical practice from the health care providers.
As a final word, not every death requires an autopsy, just that some that do should be, at least, considered for an autopsy.
@greenrun ....still running :)
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Another reason Nigerians don't do autopsy is because most people are usually so convinced that it is 'village pipu', that is hateful relatives that killed their loved ones that they leave no room for alternative explanations.
Another reason is because of lack of trust in the system and inadequate social capital. You see, there are supposed to be procedures for certain events and there are supposed to be facilities provided by government to do certain things in a certain way. For instance, what do you do when there is an accident? Call 911? If you answered yes, then you are not from the same country as me. What's the procedure when someone dies away from the hospital? Who writes the death certificate? How does the person that would write the death certificate know the cause of death since he was not there when the deceased died?
Whose responsibility is it to ensure that 'village pipu' don't snuff out lives as they please? If there is foul play in someone's death, whose responsibility is it to ascertain cause of death, investigate and find out the culprits and bring them to book? How do we ensure that the investigations are properly conducted and not corrupted by vested interests and the same people that killed the individual if someone actually killed them? Of course it is the government that should do these things.
In my opinion, the job of a good citizen is to inform the appropriate authorities when there is inexplicable deaths and the onus lies on the government authority to offer explanation about these cases.
But above all, we must all hold ourselves and each other accountable for what happens in our environment and must, as a necessity, uphold the dignity of human life.
Top quality post @greenrun as usual. Thanks.
You made some interesting points here.
I wish some of those advocates of village pipu as villains are here to see how it should be done.
Thank you very much for that detailed response I appreciate that.
Lol, The only way to erase the village pipu mentality is if our celebrities are caught getting involved in autopsies(You know we Nigerians, we like to copy people like celebs and politicians)
Haha......
I guess this is the main reason people in Nigeria doesn't perform autopsy on a dead body.
Funny enough as I was reading this post, my sis just joined me, immediately we got to the 100k part, she just said, "abeg make Una carry body throway joor"..😂
People still spend twice as much in coffin purchase.
I find this post particularly pertinent in our society. You think good thoughts. Excellent post as usual. Upvoted, resteemed and posted on Facebook.
Well done.
Thanks a lot for resteeming this post and for your kind comments plus the visit to my blog.
We Africans, particularly Nigerians don't want to consider the bodies of our beloved being cut open but it could save a lot of lives. I watched a movie in which the family rejected an autopsy but the doctors went ahead anyway; which is wrong but they were able to save his offsprings because they discovered he had a blood disorder that causes Iron to accumulates in muscles. This caused enlargement of the man's heart and several other things which eventually lead to his death.
And by the way, Sorry for the loss of your friend @greenrun
That's the main reason we should at least put bias aside and do autopsy on a deceased loved one. It's crazy the importance we attach to things that shouldn't be that important. Thank you for the condolence, if he was to be here he would tell me not to think am much, his favorite phrase. Good to have a member of the steemit community in the medical field drop an input. Thanks a lot.
You are so right about this autopsy, here in Nigeria most people do not believe in it like you said grief and belief, but then I think it is important to know what exactly killed someone.
People believe that once one die he is gone and therefore should be forgotten, some times illiteracy is a major course too.
I have a friend who lost her uncle and the only conclusion was he was killed by the people who do not want him to live long in the village. I was embarrassed for my friend because this could have just been a terminal illness or some disease of the affluence. Which if it was known could be tested on the rest of the family to know if it is a hereditary disease or something and so more people would not just die mysteriously
We need to pay more attention to things like this especially when it is related to people's life
The village people are always the usual suspects. Like the popular cliché, if you think the price of education is costly try ignorance. Ignorance here is certainly not bliss. Some deaths could be explained medically/scientifically, instead of looking for that phantom devilish uncle whose only crime most time is being wretchedly poor. Now every misfortunes from the more well-to-do family member is attributed to him for being so jealous of their wealth. That is when a simple autopsy could put all these accusations to rest. Thanks for visiting my blog. Keep hope alive. Keep steeming.
Yeah I you are right. Lol.