Hospital patients seek justice for alleged medical malpractice
Hospital patients seek justice for alleged medical malpractice
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Sri Harjanto, 36, a resident of Kota Legenda in East Bekasi,
still cannot accept that his wife, Sutini, 34, died while
undergoing a minor operation on her nose earlier this year.
He said he had been assured by doctors there were no risks
involved in the operation.
"Doctors told me it was only a minor surgery that carried with
it no side effects. But my wife was in a coma when I saw her
after the operation," said Harjanto, who has a 10-year-old son
and a four-year-old daughter.
Harjanto said his wife's surgery was performed on Jan. 31. It
began at 8 a.m and at about 11 a.m. the doctors came out of the
operating room and asked him if his wife had an allergy to any
medicine or high blood pressure, but they did not say what had
happened during the surgery.
Sutini later lapsed into a coma and Harjanto was never able to
talk with her before she died on Feb. 1. He said he did not
receive a satisfactory explanation for his wife's death from
either the doctors or Mitra Keluarga Hospital in East Bekasi,
where the operation took place.
Assisted by the Legal Aid Institute for Health (LBH
Kesehatan), Harjanto filed a malpractice suit against the doctors
and the hospital on Monday.
Harjanto's lawsuit against Mitra Keluarga Hospital was one of
four malpractice suits filed on Monday. The three others were
filed at district courts in Central Jakarta, East Jakarta and
Tangerang.
In his lawsuit, Harjanto demanded Rp 20.79 million (US$2,121)
for material losses and Rp 3 billion for other losses.
"Initially, I only wanted an explanation for the death of my
wife. I would have accepted if the hospital offered an apology.
But the hospital never gave me a satisfactory explanation about
what happened during the surgery," he told The Jakarta Post.
A spokeswoman for Mitra Keluarga in East Bekasi, Nia
Nursantina, said on Tuesday the hospital had provided a
comprehensive explanation about the death of Sutini.
"We explained to her family that her death was caused by a
brain hemorrhage due to an irregularity in her brain blood canal.
And they accepted our explanation at the time. But if they file a
lawsuit, we are prepared for that," she told the Post.
She denied any malpractice occurred during the operation,
saying the medical team followed standard procedures during the
surgery.
LBH Kesehatan lawyer Leo Irfan Purba said victims of
malpractice still found it difficult to get justice because the
authorities, including judges, had little knowledge about
malpractice.
"The problem is that their verdicts rely on testimony from
doctors, who tend to protect their fellow doctors who are accused
of malpractice," he said.
He said his organization had filed 22 malpractice suits since
January. Two of the suits lost in court, a deal was reached in
one case and the rest of the lawsuits are making their way
through the courts.
Leo said his organization encouraged families of malpractice
victims to seek justice not only to secure monetary compensation,
but also to educate the public about their rights in the medical
system.
"We just put our lives and the lives of our loved ones in the
hands of doctors offering medical treatments and we have no idea
what they are doing. Therefore, we are encouraging people to
report any suspected malpractice," he told the Post on Tuesday.