Bahamas Patient Advocacy

Bahamian Doctors Using Cytotec to Induce Labour

by a contributor

What is supposed to be the happiest day of a woman's life can turn into a catastrophe and a nightmare!

The drug Cytotec is used in the Bahamas to induce labour. This drug is responsible for many fetal and maternal deaths, as well as fluid embolisms, uterine ruptures, placenta abruptions, uterine hyper stimulation and more.

This drug has caused numerous medical complications, something you would never know unless you researched it. Women would never know that Cytotec, a little white pill that can be taken orally or inserted into the vagina to soften the cervix, has a specific warning against this sort of use on its label. It warns that pregnant women should not use this drug to induce labour.

So why are doctors using this drug on pregnant women in the Bahamas?

Medical Ethics in Modern Medicine

by Leandra Esfakis

Last December, the University of the West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research, at the Princess Margaret Hospital, hosted a symposium in Nassau on medical ethics.

The goal was “ to provide participants with an appreciation and understanding of the impact of medical ethics in the current practice of medicine. “

The Esfakis Inquest and What it Means for Bahamian Healthcare

by Leandra Esfakis

•The author is the deceased's sister, and an attorney. Their father was the late Dr Andrew Esfakis.

Last month the Coroner’s Court delivered a verdict in the April, 2002 death of Christopher Esfakis, age 42, of “Death by natural causes, with a substantial and significant contribution made by neglect.”

Christopher Esfakis’ death was “natural”, in the ordinary meaning of that word, the same way that every death is natural: his heart stopped beating. The inquest determined, however, that “neglect” contributed significantly to that death.

According to the evidence, Christopher Esfakis walked into Doctors Hospital about 1 am on Saturday April 20, 2002. He was admitted for treatment for mostly first and second degree burns to 25 per cent of his body. He died the following Monday at 7 pm.

by Leandra Esfakis

•The author is the deceased's sister, and an attorney. Their father was the late Dr Andrew Esfakis.

Last month the Coroner’s Court delivered a verdict in the April, 2002 death of Christopher Esfakis, age 42, of “Death by natural causes, with a substantial and significant contribution made by neglect.”

Christopher Esfakis’ death was “natural”, in the ordinary meaning of that word, the same way that every death is natural: his heart stopped beating. The inquest determined, however, that “neglect” contributed significantly to that death.

According to the evidence, Christopher Esfakis walked into Doctors Hospital about 1 am on Saturday April 20, 2002. He was admitted for treatment for mostly first and second degree burns to 25 per cent of his body. He died the following Monday at 7 pm.