Daughter reports medical staff after mother left in coma

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.