A doctor from the hospital in Gorzów Wielkopolski was arrested on suspicion of murder. It is about refusing to undertake persistent therapy after the patient has been diagnosed with brain death. The medical commission appointed by the hospital found that the doctor was not guilty, but another doctor from the same hospital turned to the prosecutor's office.
Arrest, murder charge and not a word from the prosecutor's office – this must arouse emotions. – It is embarrassing that a young man came to work, did his job and was arrested for his work. It's unimaginable – comments Wiesław Świtała, Lubusz provincial consultant in the field of anesthesiology and intensive care.
The arrested person is a doctor from Ukraine – Andrii K., who has been a resident at the hospital in Gorzów Wielkopolski for two years. In January, he was supposed to take care of an 86-year-old patient who was on the operating table in a very serious condition due to a mesenteric artery embolism, kidney and spleen infarction, and ischemia of both lower limbs.
In the recovery room, the patient's heart stopped. Areflexia, i.e. complete loss of reflexes, indicated brain death. The resident declared death and disconnected the equipment dispensing medications and oxygen to the patient.
– Ischemia of half a person, below the origin of the celiac trunk, so no person – especially with his medical burden and multi-morbidities – can survive – says Jerzy Stasiak, head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care of the Multi-specialized Provincial Hospital in Gorzów Wielkopolski.
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The hospital appointed a special commission to investigate the case, which found that the resident had not completed all the formalities, but that the decision – according to the commission – was the only one. – Further treatment in the intensive care unit, even if it were qualified, would bear the hallmarks of persistent therapy – says Prof. Maciej Żukowski, head of the Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Acute Poisoning, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.
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The resident faces up to life in prison
Persistent therapy is therapy that prolongs dying, suffering, and violates the patient's dignity – which every resident should know. In the hospital in Gorzów, before the commission finished its work, the action was taken – as they say in the hospital – by the doctor's rival from Ukraine: resident Łukasz Z. It was he – although he did not know the case – that three months after the 86-year-old's death, he filed a report to the prosecutor's office, omitting superiors.
– What makes this matter even more outrageous is the entire community and I am afraid that this matter probably has some hidden meaning – comments Prof. Mirosław Czuczwar, head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care of the Independent Public Clinical Hospital No. 1 in Lublin.
Andrii K. has authorities on his side, because so far no evidence of his guilt has been found. – He examined the patient, not with the intention of murdering him, as the prosecutor claims, or as the prosecutor puts it, but to assess whether he still qualifies for treatment in the intensive care unit – emphasizes Prof. Maciej Żukowski.
The resident whistleblower went on vacation, and experts want his actions to be investigated by the Ethics Committee of the Supreme Medical Chamber. They also appeal for Andrii K. to be released from custody. – All the documents are there and the course of the event is described in detail, people are interviewed, and there is no fear of fraud – points out the Lubusz provincial consultant in the field of anesthesiology and intensive care.
A doctor from Ukraine faces life imprisonment.
Main photo source: Fakty TVN