Malpractice cases go to trial<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A bereaved husband has filed a malpractice suit against Cipto
\nMangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) and Pelni Hospital in
\nJakarta and PMI Hospital in Bogor, West Java, for negligence that
\nresulted in the death of his wife Adya Vitry Harsisusanti two
\nyears ago.<\/p>\n
The man, Indra Yacub, said on Thursday at the Central Jakarta
\nDistrict Court his wife died at RSCM after a doctor inserted a
\ncentral venous pressure (CVP) needle into a vein in her neck. The
\nCVP was needed to administer an anesthetic for an operation the
\nnext day.<\/p>\n
\"The doctor was not an anesthesiologist, just a general
\npractitioner who was studying to be one,\" he lamented.<\/p>\n
The other two hospitals treated his wife and had her undergo
\nmany tests and procedures without diagnosing her illness, said
\nYacub. The 39-year-old man demanded that the three state
\nhospitals publish an apology in the media and pay material
\ndamages of Rp 47,324,000 (US$5,502) and nonmaterial damages of Rp
\n3 billion.<\/p>\n
The court adjourned the trial for next week as the defendants
\nwere not present.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit is one of several malpractice cases surfacing in
\nthe last few months, including that of Irwanto, a researcher at
\nAtmajaya University in Jakarta, who became paralyzed from the
\nwaist down after receiving an enoxaparin sodium injection for a
\nsupposed cardiac problem.<\/p>\n
Doctors in Singapore found out later on there was nothing
\nwrong with his heart.<\/p>\n
The police in Cirebon, West Java, are now hearing a lawsuit
\nlodged by the family of a tumor patient who died following
\nsurgery after receiving a blood transfusion of type A blood,
\nwhile her blood type was actually O.<\/p>\n
Cirebon Police detectives chief Taufik Ansori said that there
\nwere strong indications of negligence that could be prosecuted
\nunder the criminal code.<\/p>\n
Taufik Basari, Yacub's lawyer from the Jakarta Legal Aid
\nInstitute, said that his suit was based on Chapter 1365 of the
\ncivil code, which obliges those violating a law and
\ndisadvantaging others to pay damages.<\/p>\n
\"The law here could mean the Health Law, the Consumer
\nProtection Law or the law on medical ethics,\" said Basari.<\/p>\n
Although people could sue for malpractice, it is difficult to
\nproceed as there are no specific regulations regarding it.<\/p>\n
Currently a bill on medical practice stands to be deliberated
\nby the House of Representatives in the next session from April to
\nJuly. It mentions specifically that people can sue doctors and
\nhospitals if they feel disadvantaged by their services.<\/p>\n
\"However, it doesn't stipulate any standards on medical
\nservices to specify required tests or actions for specific
\ndiseases, and that's what we need,\" said Basari.<\/p>\n
Marius Widjajarta of the Indonesian Health Consumer
\nEmpowerment Foundation said such standards should be stipulated
\nin a government regulation under the Health Law.<\/p>\n
\"There should have been 29 regulations drafted for the Health
\nLaw, and so far we have only four,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Marius further said that such standards would also protect
\ndoctors facing suits, because it would be easier to prove that
\nthey had done all that was necessary.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malpractice-cases-go-to-trial-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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