A shattering breach of trust: What happens to patients when their doctor is not who he claimed to be?
LARGO, Md. — In Yvette Hansberry’s home, a small, soft teddy bear sits on the mantel above the fireplace. Its beady eyes survey the small family room; its face always smiles.The bear is in a prime location because it contains the remains of the worst day of her life.
A week before that fateful day, Hansberry had been six months pregnant. She had begun leaking a clear-looking fluid — enough for her to wear a pad when she went to work. Her OB-GYN, Dr. Charles Akoda, examined her, but dismissed her concerns, she said, pronouncing her “fine,” just as he had when she experienced light bleeding three months into her term.
Still, Hansberry knew something was not right. “I had never been six months pregnant before, but I know you’re not supposed to be leaking any fluid,” she said.
She returned to the clinic, and this time was seen by the other OB-GYN at the practice. Almost as soon as she was on the examination table, he told her she was in labor. She had been, by that point, for at least six days; the membranes from her amniotic sac were hanging down through her cervix and into her vaginal canal.
Hansberry was rushed to a hospital in an ambulance. Five hours later, her daughter arrived — three months early — and could not be saved.
Later, Hansberry would learn that her doctor’s name was not Dr. Charles Akoda. She would learn that his legal name was Oluwafemi Charles Igberase. And she would learn that he had used a fake Social Security card to obtain a medical
