Legal uncertainty keeps malpractice cases hanging

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Sisi C.K. Chalik from the National Movement for Patients' Safety broke down in tears when sharing her experience of undergoing surgery to remove a myoma in her uterus and coming home with a colostomy.

Addressing the participants in a recent seminar on medical malpractice, the 40-something woman said that her case had been hanging in the balance for six years.
It all started in 2000 when an obstetrician/gynecologist in a hospital in Bogor, West Java, found a myoma (benign tumor composed of muscle tissue) in her uterus and suggested surgery.

Four days after the surgery, Sisi's stomach bloated like she was five-months pregnant, so she underwent surgery the following day.

A few days later, her stomach bloated again, loosening the stitches from the second surgery. She was in a critical condition. She then had a third operation, but remained in a critical condition and was then transferred to Cempaka Putih Islamic Hospital where she was treated for 13 days.

The doctors planned another two operations on Sisi, who went home with a colostomy (surgical formation of an artificial anus where a hole is made in the abdominal wall and the person defecates into a bag strapped to the stomach).

"I haven't been well after all those operations. My hemoglobin has dropped. I am easily exhausted and run out of breath, and after the operations I couldn't even walk and had to move around in a wheelchair," Sisi said, sobbing.

What was more baffling for her, the last four operations were done on her intestines and not her uterus.

Sisi then filed a suit with the police, but the process of the investigation was lengthy. In between, both the police and prosecutor's office lost all her documents. Her condition worsened, and an examination by another ob-gyn showed that the myoma was still inside, and that her uterus was damaged and needed to be removed.
But the surgery had to be delayed due to her weak condition.

The surgeon offered to settle the case out of court and offered Rp 70 million (around US$7,800) as a token of "sympathy and humanity", but refused to take responsibility for his actions.

Sisi said no, and proceeded with the trial.

The latest development showed that her documents are still missing at the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, and the case is far from settled.

"My condition still fluctuates. I still have to have blood transfusions from time to time. I really want to get well. I hope there is a just solution to this case," she said. -- JP/Hera Diani

Labels: health

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