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Ogogo’s daughters misunderstood palliative care, doctor explains after treatment claim
Doctor reacts to Ogogo’s health claim, says daughters misunderstood palliative care
Doctor react to Ogogo’s health claim, say his daughters misunderstood palliative care
A doctor, Olusina Ajidahun, has reacted to claims by the daughters of veteran Yoruba actor, Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, that hospitals had stopped treating their father, who is battling stage-four cancer.
Ajidahun, who is known as The Bearded Dr Sina on X, said the emotional appeal by the actor’s daughters may have stemmed from a misunderstanding of what doctors mean when they say further treatment, particularly chemotherapy, may no longer be appropriate.
The doctor explained that a decision to move a patient with advanced cancer to palliative care does not necessarily mean that medical professionals have abandoned the patient or are refusing to provide care.
According to him, when stage-four cancer has progressed despite chemotherapy or other available treatments, doctors may recommend palliative care to manage pain and other symptoms, improve comfort and preserve the patient’s quality of life.
He said the statement that hospitals “don’t want to treat” Ogogo could therefore give the impression that medical personnel were deliberately refusing to help the actor when the reality could be that his medical team had reached a point where conventional cancer treatment was no longer considered beneficial.
“They don’t want to treat my father. This is a dangerous statement and can set the tide against the medical team treating her Dad,” Ajidahun wrote.
He added that palliative care is an important part of managing advanced and terminal illnesses when the disease can no longer be cured.
The doctor’s reaction followed emotional appeals by Ogogo’s daughters, Lima and Kira Taiwo, who took to Instagram to seek help for their father after they said his condition had deteriorated significantly.
In her video, Lima said the family was desperate to find a hospital or medical professional willing to continue treating the actor.
She said the family had only discovered the seriousness of his condition about three weeks earlier, explaining that his outward appearance had not initially suggested how advanced the illness was.
Lima said the family was not asking for money but for someone who could provide medical intervention and give their father another chance.
Her sister, Kira, also appealed for assistance, saying doctors had told the family that they could no longer administer chemotherapy to the actor.
She said the family was willing to explore available options, including chemotherapy, and pleaded with anyone with access to cancer specialists to come to their aid.
However, Ajidahun cautioned the family and members of the public against interpreting the doctors’ decision as a refusal to care for Ogogo.
He said the difference between “treatment” aimed at controlling or eliminating cancer and “palliative care” aimed at managing symptoms and improving comfort was important in understanding the situation.
According to him, stage-four cancer means the disease has spread from the organ where it began to other parts of the body, making the treatment situation considerably more complex.
He also warned against turning to unverified herbal remedies in desperation, particularly after conventional treatment options have been exhausted.
“If you have herbs that treat cancer, don’t do this. There are no herbs that will treat a stage-four cancer. These concoctions will end up damaging more organs and causing more complications,” he said.
Ajidahun stressed that he was not part of Ogogo’s medical team and was commenting independently on the videos posted by the actor’s daughters.
He expressed sympathy for the family, acknowledging the difficulty of watching a loved one battle a serious illness, and urged them to continue working closely with the medical team managing the actor’s condition.
The controversy has highlighted the emotional difficulty families can face when doctors explain that certain treatments are no longer suitable. For Ogogo’s daughters, the message appears to have been understood as hospitals refusing to help their father, prompting their desperate public appeal.
For the doctor, however, the issue may be less about abandonment and more about helping the family understand what can realistically be achieved at an advanced stage of the disease, while ensuring that the actor continues to receive appropriate medical and palliative care.
Ogogo, 66, is a veteran of the Nigerian film industry whose career spans more than four decades. He has appeared in more than 300 films and remains one of the most recognisable figures in Yoruba cinema.
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