Medical Practitioners And The Thoughts Of Witch-Hunting By Olatunde Fasanya, Esq. – TheNigerialawyer

The 2019 edition of the Annual General Conference (AGC) of the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has been scheduled to hold between
23rd and 29th August, 2019.

The conference, hosted by the Lagos Branch is themed
“FACING THE FUTURE”, will hold at the Eko Hotels
and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Conference will address issues around the rule of law,
independence of the judiciary, access to justice and protection of
fundamental human rights, the economy and how to pilot the present
to assure a better future. The theme “Facing the Future” is borne
out of the pressing need to invest in a sustainable foundation for
an optimistic future.

It’s noteworthy that “Medical Negligence: Time
to Change the Narrative” is just a topic of one of the plenary
sessions at the Annual Conference amongst the thirty-nine (39)
plenaries. All topics are aimed at achieving the focus for this
2019 edition of the Conference.

This is against the notion nurtured by our medical practictoners
and allied workers that the legal experts are aimed at hunting them
in their field of work.

Medical Law is just one area amongst the diverse areas of law.
There’s law in all profession and on every thing that could be
thought of. Hence, a reason law as a field legislates, contributes
and adjudicated in all matter, and a reason lawyers are learned
beyond their profession.

The other 38 plenary sessions are also on diverse areas of human
endeavours as they relate to the legal profession.

The 2019 NBA Conference places the NBA Sections and their
respective specialist committee sessions at the heart of the
conference programme for capacity building. Lawyers will have a
real opportunity to focus on their areas of interest and benefit
from exposure to emerging practice areas to be better equipped and
reinforced to Face the Future.

Medical and the Law Committee of the NBA will manage the the
plenary on Medical Law which will be the 18th session at the
Conference, to last for 90 minutes, and would be having lawyers and
medical professionals on the panel.

Laolu Osanyin (Vice President, World Association for Medical
Law) as the Plenary Moderator; with other panelists such as Dr.
Francis Faduyile (President, NMA – Nigerian Medical Association),
Abiodun Olayiwole (Editor-in-Chief, Nigeria Medical Law Report);
Akinyemi Sofiyyullah Oladipo (Managing Partner, Nimble Solicitors),
Dr. Joel Akande (Strategic Insight Healthcare, The Hospital Ltd.)
and Alex Muoka (Managing Partner, A. Muoka & Co.) will be
anchoring this session.

These as seen are not just legal practitioners but also having
leaders in the medical practice to dissect and discuss on the
chosen topic. Below is the brief profile of these persons.

Laolu Osanyin LLM, MCLM, CHP is the the Chair of the Medicine
and Law Committee of the NBA’s Section of Law Practice. He is an
internationally renowned Medicolegal Consultant and Vice President
of the World Association of Medical Law (WAML), ‘Laolu is currently
the first and only African on the Board of Governors of the World
Association for Medical Law (WAML) which is the Medicolegal
Advisory Council to the World Health Organization (WHO) and
International Criminal Court (ICC). He is a member of the American
College of Legal Medicine and also a member of the Global Panel of
Health Law Experts. Osanyin serves on the Board of the Nigerian
National Health Research Ethics Committee (NHREC), and until
recently he served on the Ethics Committee of the American College
of Legal Medicine. He is the Founder and Convener of the Nigerian
Medical Law Summit, Laolu is the Head of the Medicolegal Unit of
Medical Tutors which is accredited by the Medical and Dental
Council as a continuing medical education provider. He is the Chief
Counsel of First Counsel Solicitors a Medicolegal Consultancy
Firm.

Dr. Francis Faduyile (MBBS MSC MBA FMCPath FMCPath-ESCA DipFHID)
is the President Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). He was the
former Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of NMA and a lecturer at the
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH. He is a
Pathologist, skilled in Forensic Medicine and is an alumnus of the
University of Lagos. Faduyile is an experienced Lecturer with a
demonstrated history of working in the medical practice industry.
Skilled in Clinical Research, Medical Education, Cytopathology,
Forensic Pathology, Epidemiology, and Medicine. Strong healthcare
services professional with a Diploma, Forensic Human
Identification. (DipFHID) focused in Forensic Medicine from Faculty
of Forensic & Legal Medicine, UK.

Mr. Abiodun Olayiwole is the Editor-in-Chief of Nigeria Medical
Law Report. Former Unit Head of the Medical Disciplinary Tribunal
Unit of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). He is a
Former Director of the Legal Unit of the Medical and Dental Council
of Nigeria (MDCN). A retired Head of the Department of
Administration and Human Resources of Medical and Dental Council of
Nigeria (MDCN).

Mr. Akinyemi Sofiyyullah Oladipo graduated from the University
of Lagos (2006), Upon his call to bar (2007) and mandatory youth
service (2009), he joined the law firm of Gani Adetola Kaseem (SAN)
& Co where he was exposed to medico-legal aspects of practice.
He served as legal adviser to the Medical and Dental Practitioners
Investigating Panel and was actively involved, over a period of 8
years in the investigations of several medical negligence cases. He
also prosecuted medical negligence cases before the Medical and
Dental Disciplinary Tribunal. He was counsel to the Nigerian
Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) and the National Postgraduate
Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) where he handled a lot of
medico-legal documentation and transactions for the Institute and
College. He has also been involved in handling cases for the
Medical and Health Worker of Nigeria, and the Joint Health workers
Union. He is a member of the NBA Section of Legal Practice and the
World Association of Medical Law (WAML).

Dr. Joel Akande obtained his primary medical training at the
College of Medicine at the University of Lagos. Almost immediately,
he started his postgraduate studies in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
in 1991. He studied and specialized in Reproductive Endocrinology
at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He left Geneva for the
United Kingdom and Ireland where, he enrolled in the residency
program of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and as a member of the Royal
College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, he served in several
hospitals in UK and Ireland during his training years. Joel Akande,
a multi-talented physician, and fertility specialist studied law
(LLB, University of London, 2006), business management, and
information technology (MBA, University of Leicester, UK, 2004).
Dr. Akande, due to his many interests, during his time in the UK,
worked for a long time in Psychiatry (Mental Health). He has
written 10 published books covering diverse subjects. A versatile
writer with a passion for public and individual empowerment, Joel
is a weekly health columnist in The Nation Newspaper and a
contributor to several online articles. The author of “Personal
Injury & Clinical Negligence: Consumer Rights & Provider’s
Responsibilities”, is a natural strategist and is well-traveled. In
addition to being a public speaker, Joel is a medico-legal
consultant. He currently manages Strategic Insight Healthcare (The
Hospital), in Magodo, Lagos, Nigeria.

Alex Muoka is a litigation and transaction lawyer and the
Managing Partner of A. Muoka & Co. – a Lagos-based commercial
and litigation law firm. He is a past Chairman of the Nigerian Bar
Association-Lagos Branch. He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from
the Lagos State University, a Master of Laws degree from the
University of Lagos, and was called to the Bar in 1991. He is a
Trustee of the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership, and is active
in pro bono criminal defense litigation. He has spoken recently on
compliance obligations of the Corporate Affairs Commission, witness
preparation, etiquette, defamation, medical ethics and litigation
avoidance, and the Freedom of Information Act.

I hope our medical professional colleagues can see that this
plenary is a joint session of both the medics and legal minds.

* Olatunde Fasanya is a legal Practitioner.