Patient sent home with intestine exposed

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For Sumaryono, 24, and his mother, Iis Iswati, 45, hospital treatment is a luxury only for the rich.

Owing to their poverty, Sumaryono lives in pain; his intestine has been poking out through an incision on the right-hand side of his waist for five months since he was sent home from Jakarta administration-run Tarakan Hospital. The sole reason was that he could not pay the Rp 2.8 million (US$330) medical bill.

In his three-square-meter rented hut on a bank of the West Flood Canal in Bendungan Hilir subdistrict, Central Jakarta, Sumaryono shared his painful experience with the media, sometimes grimacing at the suffering he has experienced since May 29.

"Whenever I eat, the pain gets me. I feel that my intestine has a forced contraction," said the former construction worker.

The pain has left him unable to stand up straight and prevents him from doing normal activities.

During the interview, Sumaryono showed his six-centimeter-long swollen and throbbing intestine, "protected" from the air by a dirty, black plastic bag. He also showed the 15-centimeter-long stitches on his stomach.

Sumaryono said that he was supposed to undergo surgery as recommended by a surgeon he identified as Dr. Rika.

"Dr. Rika told me that I had a problem with my appendix but later she said that I also had a tumor in my stomach," he said.

"I told the doctor that I did not have enough money to pay for the surgery but the doctor insisted on it. She said the fee could be paid later on."

His mother had obtained a letter from the subdistrict office and the City Mental and Spiritual Development and Social Welfare Office, confirming that she could not afford to pay the bill.

Iis said that she had made a down payment of Rp 425,000 of the total Rp 2.8 million surgery costs.

"I told the cashier that I had only Rp 80,000 to pay the huge bill and he took all my money. But later in the day, the hospital told me to take my son home," said his mother, who works as a housemaid.

Iis said that she had taken Sumaryono to the hospital for a medical check on the wound and stitches but the doctor never showed up.

"The nurses only cleaned the wound with cotton wool. They gave neither treatment nor medicine," she said.

The mother's and son's unfortunate circumstances moved their neighbors, who could not stand to see Sumaryono suffering. The neighbors reported his situation to the police, who were confused at what to do and called on the media to cover Sumaryono's story.

City Health Agency spokeswoman Evy Zelfino said that as the surgery had taken place some time ago it would be difficult to check the validity of the information.

"Just take him back to the (Tarakan) hospital. They will certainly treat him. If he can't afford the cost, he can request assistance under a subsidized government scheme aimed at low- income people," she said.

According to Evy, the patient might not have received treatment at the hospital originally, as no subsidy scheme existed at that time.

"It was launched in July," she added.

Tarakan Hospital director Dr. Soekirman Soekin said that he had already received a report on Sumaryono's condition. He said that the incision on the right-hand side of his waist was intended for an artificial anus.

"If the intestine is getting larger, it's because of the tumor," he argued, adding that the hospital should have given him a colostomy bag.

Sumaryono's agony is likely to end soon, as a volunteer from Jakarta Police radio station 911 emergency assistance, Nano Suwarno, took Sumaryono later on Monday to the St. Carolus Hospital, Central Jakarta, for medical treatment.

"I simply received an order to take him to the hospital," he said, refusing to elaborate on who had given the order.