Dr Martin Ajujo confessed to the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB) that he conducted the botched breast enlargement procedure that caused the death of June Wanza Mulupi on June 7, 2018.
Mulupi, a 35-year-old mother of three, had gone to Surgeoderm Healthcare Limited, a private clinic in Nairobi, to have her breasts enlarged and firmed up, only to die two days later after developing complications.
According to KMPDB, Dr Ajujo was still receiving training at the time and was not allowed to conduct any surgery without the supervision of a practising plastic surgeon.
On June 5, 2018, after his supervisor, Prof Stanley Ominde Khainga ran late to the hospital, Dr Ajujo went ahead and listed himself as the operating surgeon on Mulupi's admission papers.
Dr Ojijo proceeded to perform the surgery without his supervisor and harvested fat from Mulupi’s abdomen through liposuction and was preparing to inject it into her breasts when Prof Khainga arrived.
The trainee confessed to the KMPDB team that he took the notes in Ms Mulupi’s file and that there were no notes by Prof Khainga. He added that any error in Mulupi’s patient file was his and not his supervisor's.
KMPDB’s Preliminary Inquiry Committee found out that Mulupi’s gut was nicked and waste flowed out, causing a blood infection commonly known as sepsis that led to her death.
The Board, in its report on the matter, also pointed accusing fingers at the management of Surgeoderm Healthcare Limited, as well as the two other doctors who operated on her, the anaesthetist, Dr Evans Charana and Prof Khainga, who is also the head of the plastic and reconstructive surgery department at the University of Nairobi.
Furthermore, the KMPDB’s preliminary investigations showed that the clinic had operated without a license for some months.
As a result of these findings, KMPDB will now constitute a tribunal to do a full inquiry into Prof Khainga, Dr Ajujo, Dr Charana, and Surgeoderm.
