Attorney-at-law, Darren Wade, representing the family of the late Adriana Younge, has refuted claims made by Rickford Burke, President of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), that the room in which Younge’s autopsy was conducted was “overcrowded.”
Burke, a known government critic, had criticized the administration for what he described as a high number of individuals, allegedly including government agents, being present in the general examination room during the autopsy at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
He claims that a senior GPHC official reportedly told CGID that apart from camera operators, approximately 12 other persons were in the room, which the alleged source described as “obviously crowded.”
Buke said the hospital source questioned the necessity of an “extraordinarily high level” of government representation, naming Chief Medical Officer Dr. Narine Singh and government pathologist Dr. Nehal Singh among those present.
The CGID president also noted that an “overseas source corroborated what the GPHC official said, and also expressed concern, suggesting that the presence of so many individuals may have made international pathologists “uncomfortable”.
However, Wade has dismissed the claims as misleading and inaccurate. In a public Facebook post, he said, “The room was neither crowded nor congested. ‘10 cameras’? This is again false information. These statements are deeply troubling and reckless.”
He explained that the autopsy was conducted in a “very large room,” and that the observation area was distinctly separate from the examination table. According to Wade, Dr. Gary Collins, the overseas pathologist, clearly established ground rules before the procedure began, specifically restricting access around the examination area.
Wade further noted that none of the medical professionals involved expressed any discomfort with the environment. “To say the room was congested is dishonest,” he asserted, addressing Burke directly: “Rickford Burke, as your lawyer and friend, I believe you could have verified this information before posting.”
Burke later edited his post to say that those unnamed sources stand by their account.
