GPHC patient suicide… Chronic renal failure could be linked to suicide –Dr. Quincy Jones

DESPITE being considered a “far-fetched” conclusion that chronic renal failure could be linked to suicide, local expert, Dr. Quincy Jones of the Linden Hospital Complex yesterday expressed the view that a link between the two is “not impossible.”

Jones’s comment comes at a time when the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has recorded a few cases of chronic renal failure diagnoses in the last few days, with one case leading to suicide last Friday evening.
On Friday evening, at about 8:45pm, a 37- year -old woman who was identified as Sheniza Farouk, plunged through the window of the two-storeyed female ward which led to her demise. The woman was said to be a patient at the medical institution since December 20, after she was admitted for treatment following a discovery that she was diagnosed with chronic renal failure.
Farouk, according to the hospital staff, had not complained about being treated badly, nor did she complain about the quality of services administered to her. However, the woman leaped to her death on Friday last, despite the efforts of other patients to restrain her from doing so. One of the patients was bitten by her prior to her drastic move to end her life.
While speculation continued about Farouk’s mental health, Dr. Jones in an exclusive interview with this publication related that while there is a slim chance of the condition being linked to suicide, it is not impossible. He further explained that in the end stages of the condition for which there is no cure, patients could become delusional which could affect their mental stability.
“It is not very common though,” Dr. Jones said, adding that the life-span of a diagnosed patient varies depending on resources, level of expertise, inter alia. Additionally, he noted that the condition is one which works in tandem with diabetes and/or hypertension. Chronic renal failure is more common among men, as compared to women, the doctor said.
Against this backdrop, it would be inaccurate to draw a definitive conclusion that the woman’s action was one which was premeditated.
In a Stabroek News report on the issue however, the woman’s son had complained to the publication of her being treated badly by the staff. These statements were subsequently denounced by Public Relations Officer of the GPHC, Mitzy Campbell, who assured the media that the woman had not been neglected by staff or treated differently in any manner.

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