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MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: SIX YEAR-OLD HASMIK GOES IN FOR TONSIL REMOVAL, DISCHARGED WITH BRAIN DAMAGE
Ani Hovhannisyan
00:06, February 17, 2015
Three months ago six year-old Hasmik could be seen playing with her
friends in Bayandour, the Shirak village in which she lives.
Today, she isn't allowed to leave the house due to a simple tonsil
operation that went terribly wrong. The young girl is too weak and
frail to play with her friends.
Last November 28, Hasmik was taken to the Mother and Child Austrian
Hospital in Gyumri to have her tonsils removed. The little girl
remained in the operating theater for several hours and the doctors
didn't tell Hasmik's relatives what had happened.
At 2p, nearly four hours after Hasmik was admitted to surgery, a doctor
came out, showed the relatives on of Hasmik's removed tonsils and, in a
serious tone, told them there was an issue that needed to be discussed.
Mrs. Hasmik Martirosyan, the girl's grandmother, told Hetq that the
surgeon in charge Yeranouhie Varagyan, explained that some of the
anesthetic had gotten into the girl's face and had caused swelling.
"She said that everything would be back to normal within the hour and
that they were monitoring the child," Mrs. Martirosyan said, adding
that the doctors nevertheless seemed panicky and that additional
medical equipment was being taken to the surgery unit.
Upon seeing the commotion, the relatives demanded to see Hasmik. It was
only after raising a ruckus that the relatives were told that Hasmik
was in very critical condition and that the hospital had called for
experts from Yerevan.
Hasmik's mother, Lianna Rafayelyan, describes what happened next.
"I entered the surgery and saw that the child's head had expanded to
three times its normal size. I approached, removed the smock, and saw
that her entire body from the neck down was covered in bruises and
swelling. It turned out that they had given her too much anesthetic.
To undo the swelling, the doctors had stuck pins into the child's
body."
The doctors told the family that the anesthetic overload had caused
the girl's brain cells to die.
Hasmik was then transferred to the Sourb Astvatzamayr Medical Center in
Yerevan where she sunk into a coma for six days. The diagnosis on the
medical chart accompanying Hasmik to Yerevan read that the patient had
brain ischemia (is a restriction in blood supply to tissues, causing
a shortage of oxygen and glucose needed for cellular metabolism)
For that entire week, doctors at the resuscitation until could only
tell the girl's relatives to pray.
When Hasmik awoke from her coma, she couldn't move the left side of
her body. Due to the swelling of the blood vessels, the capillaries
in the child's brain had burst and a blood clot formed.
When relatives confronted the surgeon, otolaryngologist Yeranouhie
Varagyan, she shifted all responsibility to the anesthesiologist.
Varagyan also told Hetq the same story.
"The examination committee from Yerevan found that my surgery to
remove the tonsils went without problem. You should direct your
questions to the anesthesiologist because the equipment had broken
down. I am amazed you even telephoned me because I operated without
a drop of blood being spilled."
Hetq also contacted the anesthesiologist, Asik Dalibaldyan, for his
side of the story. At first, he said he would get back to us in a few
hours because he would be attending a wedding. Hours later, he never
answered our telephone calls.
The next day, Dalibaldyan answered our call. "I won't comment over
the phone. You'll have to come to the hospital. How is it that three
months after the surgery, when we took the girl home all fine and well,
that a problem has now appeared?"
Dalibaldyan added that the director of the Mother and Child Austrian
Hospital has allegedly invited all the doctors involved in Hasmik's
operation to a conference to ascertain what actually happened.
Suffice it to say that 6 year-old Hasmik Martirosyan entered the
hospital for a 15 minute routine procedure to have her tonsils removed
and wound up with brain ischemia.
Today, little Hasmik is taking an array of drugs and treatments to
reverse the effects of the anesthetic overload that causes lapses
in memory, mood swings, and less than full mobility of her left
side. The girl's leg has started to curve as a result and she now
hears orthopedic shoes.
Hasmik's mother notes that while Dalibaldyan, the anesthesiologist,
called to say that he would pay for all the medicines, when she goes
to pick them up she gets a rude welcome.
"The doctor's wife tells me that they aren't obliged to look after
my girl till the end of time. But I don't want that either. What I
do want is that they return my girl to me, with a normal brain and
memory. I want Hasmik back just like she was when I placed her in
their hands. Who is going to answer for what happened to my child."
http://hetq.am/eng/news/58561/medical-malpractice-six-year-old-hasmik-goes-in-for-tonsil-removal-discharged-with-brain-damage.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv1zB0SiD8Q
Ani Hovhannisyan
00:06, February 17, 2015
Three months ago six year-old Hasmik could be seen playing with her
friends in Bayandour, the Shirak village in which she lives.
Today, she isn't allowed to leave the house due to a simple tonsil
operation that went terribly wrong. The young girl is too weak and
frail to play with her friends.
Last November 28, Hasmik was taken to the Mother and Child Austrian
Hospital in Gyumri to have her tonsils removed. The little girl
remained in the operating theater for several hours and the doctors
didn't tell Hasmik's relatives what had happened.
At 2p, nearly four hours after Hasmik was admitted to surgery, a doctor
came out, showed the relatives on of Hasmik's removed tonsils and, in a
serious tone, told them there was an issue that needed to be discussed.
Mrs. Hasmik Martirosyan, the girl's grandmother, told Hetq that the
surgeon in charge Yeranouhie Varagyan, explained that some of the
anesthetic had gotten into the girl's face and had caused swelling.
"She said that everything would be back to normal within the hour and
that they were monitoring the child," Mrs. Martirosyan said, adding
that the doctors nevertheless seemed panicky and that additional
medical equipment was being taken to the surgery unit.
Upon seeing the commotion, the relatives demanded to see Hasmik. It was
only after raising a ruckus that the relatives were told that Hasmik
was in very critical condition and that the hospital had called for
experts from Yerevan.
Hasmik's mother, Lianna Rafayelyan, describes what happened next.
"I entered the surgery and saw that the child's head had expanded to
three times its normal size. I approached, removed the smock, and saw
that her entire body from the neck down was covered in bruises and
swelling. It turned out that they had given her too much anesthetic.
To undo the swelling, the doctors had stuck pins into the child's
body."
The doctors told the family that the anesthetic overload had caused
the girl's brain cells to die.
Hasmik was then transferred to the Sourb Astvatzamayr Medical Center in
Yerevan where she sunk into a coma for six days. The diagnosis on the
medical chart accompanying Hasmik to Yerevan read that the patient had
brain ischemia (is a restriction in blood supply to tissues, causing
a shortage of oxygen and glucose needed for cellular metabolism)
For that entire week, doctors at the resuscitation until could only
tell the girl's relatives to pray.
When Hasmik awoke from her coma, she couldn't move the left side of
her body. Due to the swelling of the blood vessels, the capillaries
in the child's brain had burst and a blood clot formed.
When relatives confronted the surgeon, otolaryngologist Yeranouhie
Varagyan, she shifted all responsibility to the anesthesiologist.
Varagyan also told Hetq the same story.
"The examination committee from Yerevan found that my surgery to
remove the tonsils went without problem. You should direct your
questions to the anesthesiologist because the equipment had broken
down. I am amazed you even telephoned me because I operated without
a drop of blood being spilled."
Hetq also contacted the anesthesiologist, Asik Dalibaldyan, for his
side of the story. At first, he said he would get back to us in a few
hours because he would be attending a wedding. Hours later, he never
answered our telephone calls.
The next day, Dalibaldyan answered our call. "I won't comment over
the phone. You'll have to come to the hospital. How is it that three
months after the surgery, when we took the girl home all fine and well,
that a problem has now appeared?"
Dalibaldyan added that the director of the Mother and Child Austrian
Hospital has allegedly invited all the doctors involved in Hasmik's
operation to a conference to ascertain what actually happened.
Suffice it to say that 6 year-old Hasmik Martirosyan entered the
hospital for a 15 minute routine procedure to have her tonsils removed
and wound up with brain ischemia.
Today, little Hasmik is taking an array of drugs and treatments to
reverse the effects of the anesthetic overload that causes lapses
in memory, mood swings, and less than full mobility of her left
side. The girl's leg has started to curve as a result and she now
hears orthopedic shoes.
Hasmik's mother notes that while Dalibaldyan, the anesthesiologist,
called to say that he would pay for all the medicines, when she goes
to pick them up she gets a rude welcome.
"The doctor's wife tells me that they aren't obliged to look after
my girl till the end of time. But I don't want that either. What I
do want is that they return my girl to me, with a normal brain and
memory. I want Hasmik back just like she was when I placed her in
their hands. Who is going to answer for what happened to my child."
http://hetq.am/eng/news/58561/medical-malpractice-six-year-old-hasmik-goes-in-for-tonsil-removal-discharged-with-brain-damage.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv1zB0SiD8Q