Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has announced plans to establish a specialised police unit to crack down on unqualified and unlicensed medical practitioners, following the death of Amos Isoka after complications linked to an alleged botched dental procedure.
Speaking during a press briefing on Sunday, January 18, Duale said the proposed unit would be tasked with enforcing compliance in the medical profession, targeting illegal clinics and individuals posing as healthcare providers without proper training or licences.
The move comes in the wake of public outrage over Isoka’s death, which has renewed scrutiny of informal and unregulated medical services operating in residential areas.
“We are going to be very firm,” Duale said. “If you are a so-called healthcare practitioner who is not licensed and has not gone to school, like the one who mishandled this patient, you better look for somewhere else to do your business.”
According to the CS, the unit will also work closely with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and will extend its mandate to oversight within the Social Health Authority (SHA), where cases of fraud and illegal siphoning of public funds have been reported.
“We are planning to form an anti-fraud police unit to deal with malpractice in the health sector, including fraud within SHA where people are opening facilities and siphoning public money,” he added.
The Ministry of Health confirmed that investigations into Isoka’s death are ongoing and that all individuals found culpable will be arrested and prosecuted.
Duale also announced that Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) would waive all medical bills incurred by Isoka during his final days in hospital.
“Tomorrow morning, I will direct KNH to waive all the bills of our late brother who was mishandled,” Duale said. “This is the same approach we take when patients are admitted following protests or other emergencies.”
Amos Isoka died on Thursday, January 15, while undergoing treatment at KNH, where he had been admitted for a week. His ordeal reportedly began days earlier after undergoing a tooth extraction at a local clinic in Kawangware.
His condition worsened soon after the procedure, prompting him to seek treatment at Wema Hospital. Doctors there reportedly raised concerns that the infection could have resulted from the use of unsterilised dental instruments.
Isoka was later referred to KNH as his condition deteriorated further. He developed serious chest complications and breathing difficulties before succumbing.
“I was told Amos needed chest surgery because he had developed pressure in his chest the previous night,” his wife recounted. “He stopped breathing and was taken for CPR, but he passed away at around 11 p.m.”
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has since confirmed that the clinic where the tooth extraction was performed was operating illegally.
The incident has once again highlighted gaps in enforcement within the health sector, with the Ministry now under pressure to act decisively against rogue practitioners to prevent similar tragedies.