Daughter reports medical staff after mother left in coma

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Even the simplest medical procedures are not without risk.

Retno Pancawati, 45, is reminded of this every time she sees her mother lying helplessly in a hospital bed.

"If only I did not take her to the hospital for eye surgery ..." she says.

Retno, a resident of Sukasari subdistrict, Tangerang municipality, recalled the days when her 71-year-old mother, Cecilia Djarwati, used to complain about her eyesight, which was getting worse by the day.

Retno took her mother to the Honoris Hospital in the Modern Land housing complex in Tangerang for a checkup on May 23.

"Two doctors at the hospital said that my mother had a cataract and needed to undergo surgery," she told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Aware that Cecilia was still recuperating from a stroke that she suffered last year, Retno asked the doctors whether it was safe for her mother to undergo what was expected to only be minor surgery.

"The doctors said that there was no problem and that they had previously conducted a successful operation on a patient who had also suffered a stroke," she said, adding that she was convinced and gave her consent as the patient's next-of-kin.

The doctors conducted a general checkup on Cecilia before deciding that she was fit for surgery on May 25.

"But the two doctors rushed out after a few minutes ... They looked nervous, their faces were red ... I was so confused because I did not know what they had done to my mother," she said.

According to Retno, the doctors claimed that they had just started the pre-surgical procedures, including putting drops into Cecilia's eyes, when she started vomiting and then fainted.

Suspecting a further stroke, the doctors then diagnosed Cecilia as suffering from cerebral bleeding.

"They said they would have to operate to stop the bleeding or Cecilia would die within a few hours," Retno recalled.

She said she didn't know what to do, and that the doctors had made the decision for her.

While Cecilia survived the operation, "to this day, she is still in a coma. She's now suffering from severe bed sores on her thighs and hips," Retno explained.

Supported by a lawyer from the Jakarta Medical Legal Aid Institute (LBH Kesehatan), Retno reported the hospital to the Jakarta Police last week. She suspected that the doctor's had been negligent in treating her mother.

Hospital spokeswoman Lily denied the accusation, saying that the doctors had complied to all the procedures.

"The medical steps taken were in accordance with the procedures. A general checkup was conducted before the operation," she said.

"But the patient suddenly suffered a stroke so that the hospital took measures to treat the stroke first and then canceled the cataract operation," she said.

As of today, the unconscious Cecilia is still in the hospital, Lily said.

While legal action may give Retno some redress, according to LBH Kesehatan there are another 40 cases of alleged negligence and malpractice involving doctors or hospitals now being handled by the city police, but only one of them has been brought to court to date

Last year, psychologist Irwanto, 47, who is the chairman of the research unit at Atmajaya University as well as the research unit of the Jakarta Provincial Narcotics Agency (BNP Jakarta), sued PT Mitra Jaya Medikatama -- the management of the Bintaro International Hospital -- for alleged negligence that left him confined to a wheelchair and in need of permanent nursing care.

The case was later settled out-of-court, as suggested by the Tangerang District Court. The hospital issued a formal apology to Irwanto.