After describing an interaction with a man who requested a death certificate for his late wife despite her death not being certified by a medical expert, a Nigerian physician has generated conversation on social media.

The doctor clarified in a post on X that the man came to his facility to pick up the paperwork required for cemetery clearance.

Nevertheless, the deceased woman was not listed as having passed away at the hospital, according to a review of the records.

The doctor claims that the man acknowledged that his wife did not pass away at the hospital. Then he described what had happened to her.

The woman was first brought to the hospital as an emergency, according to the doctor. She was referred to a teaching hospital for specialised care following an evaluation by the attending physician.

After that, the woman was admitted to the teaching hospital, where she reportedly received treatment for two days.

But according to the doctor, she started to feel uneasy about the circumstances at the facility and asked to leave.

According to the account, the patient told her family: “People are dying too much in the hospital. I want to go home.”

Later, she was transported to a herbal treatment facility after being discharged against medical advice.

According to the doctor, the woman passed away while in the herbalist’s care about a week later.

The husband reportedly went to the hospital after she passed away in order to obtain a death certificate so that burial arrangements could be made.

The physician stated that he turned down the request, citing the inability of medical facilities to lawfully certify a death that they did not observe or verify medically.

He continued by saying that getting a death certificate from the hospital would not be feasible as the woman passed away outside of an accredited medical facility and was not declared dead by a physician.

According to reports, the man was counselled to seek legal counsel through the courts in order to settle the issue.

Meanwhile, reflecting on the situation, the doctor wrote: “Imagine issuing a death certificate for a death you didn’t witness. That’s a career-ending risk.”