RI no stranger to consequences of malpractice

RI no stranger to consequences of malpractice

JAKARTA (JP): Malpractice can occur anywhere. At an isolated Puskesmas community health center, at a sophisticated, expensive clinic, in the examination room of a private doctor, or in a state-owned hospital.

Press reports since the early 1980s prove it can also occur during any medical treatment, from complicated surgery to easy diagnoses.

Setianingrum, who worked at a community health center in Wedarijaksa, Central Java, was charged with negligence which led to the death of her patient, Rukmini Kartono, in 1982. Rukmini was allergic to the streptomycin injection Setianingrum gave her.

The Pati regency court decided Setianingrum was guilty and gave her a suspended sentence. Setianingrum appealed but failed to prove her innocence. Later, the Supreme Court nullified her sentence, saying she was not negligent.

In 1986 the town of Sukabumi in West Java was jolted by the alleged malpractice of ophthalmologist G.M. Husaini. The doctor was sued by Muhidin and Opa bin Tuhi, after both had their a pupil removed.

Muhidin and Opa both said the doctor told them they had to have surgery to cure eye infections, but didn't tell them their pupils would be removed.

Husaini defended himself, saying that the pupils were removed to cure the infection. Later, he sued his patients for tainting his name.

Eye surgery was also the beginning of suffering for Andriani in 1986. The eye operation at the Aini Eye Hospital in South Jakarta was a success, but Andriani, who was five at the time, suffered brain damage from the anesthesia. The Medical Ethics Council examined the case and found that the anesthesiologist left the operating room before the surgery finished.

In 1987 the Ministry of Health revoked the Asih Trisna clinic's operating permit because of the death of Sulastri. The patient underwent abdominal liposuction and vaginoplasty at the clinic on Feb. 3 that year. She was rushed to the Husada hospital in Central Jakarta and died the next day from hemorrhaging. It was revealed that the team of doctors responsible for the operation were unqualified and that the clinic didn't have a permit to perform major surgery or even admit patients.

In 1988, in Medan, North Sumatra, July was told by Rustam, the doctor in charge at Permata Bunda hospital, a day before her baby's birth that it was healthy and in good condition. The next day it was stillborn. Her husband Hansen sued after discovering the stillborn had a broken neck, peeling skin and swollen testicles.

"Dead or alive is God's intention, but why was my baby's neck broken?" Hansen was quoted by Jakarta-Jakarta weekly in August, 1988 as asking.

He said if there was an abnormality, the doctor should have told them the day before the birth so an operation could have been performed.

Doctor Rustam said that the baby had died while still in the womb from abnormalities. The doctor said the broken neck was caused by the mother's small pelvis, which made delivery tough.

There were no reports of the outcome of the case.

In March 1993, the Atma Jaya private hospital in North Jakarta faced a malpractice charge by Suwito, a resident of Penjaringan district in North Jakarta. He told the police that Haryanto, his 10-month-old baby, had died at the hospital from what he believed was a malpractice. He said his child had been hospital for two days because of a "high temperature" and had died after receiving an "injection".

The police, however, believe that what Suwito actually meant was that his child had died after receiving an infusion.

The case was later handled by the Jakarta office of the Ministry of Health after the management of the hospital denied that Haryanto's death was the result of a malpractice. (als)