Sumaryono's case is simply malpractice: NGO

Sumaryono's case is simply malpractice: NGO

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Non-governmental organization the Legal Aid Institute for Health
(LBH Kesehatan) said on Tuesday that medical malpractice was
indicated in the case of Sumaryono, 24, who has suffered for
almost five months without proper medical treatment from the
hospitals that treated him.

"Two hospitals, Tarakan Hospital and Cipto Mangunkusumo
General Hospital (RSCM), can be charged with malpractice," said
Iskandar Sitorus of LBH Kesehatan, which Sumaryono contacted to
help present his case.

Sumaryono went to Tarakan Hospital in May and was told
initially by a Dr. Rika that he had a problem with his appendix,
but she later said he had a tumor in his stomach and recommended
surgery to remove it. However, she failed to stitch up the
surgical incision and the hospital discharged Sumaryono without
any medication nor follow-up treatment. Later, the doctor
recommended him to RSCM for follow-up treatment, but the hospital
refused to admit him.

Part of his intestine poked through the open incision to the
right of his waist, which had been left unstitched.

Iskandar said his organization had sent letters to the two
hospitals, requesting their explanations regarding Sumaryono's
case.

"We will start preparing malpractice lawsuits against both
hospitals if they do not respond to our letters within three
days," he told The Jakarta Post at St. Carolus Hospital in
Salemba, Central Jakarta, where Sumaryono is now a patient.

Sumaryono has been receiving treatment at St. Carolus Hospital
since Monday, in large part due to donors who came to his aid
upon hearing his story on the Jakarta Police radio station Suara
Metro 91.1 Emergency Assistance.

A relative said that Dr. Benny, who is in charge of Sumaryono,
told him that Sumaryono might have an operation by Friday to "fix
up all the mess".

Iskandar blamed Tarakan Hospital for failing to provide
Sumaryono complete and thorough treatment, and for prolonging his
suffering for the past five months.

"Since the beginning, they (Tarakan Hospital) should have
admitted that they were not capable of handling Sumaryono's
condition. But, as you see in these medical reports, no mention
was made in his diagnosis by the hospital's doctors that they
were incapable of treating Sumaryono," he said, showing copies of
Sumaryono's medical reports from Tarakan Hospital.

Sumaryono has a tumor in his intestine that weighs between 500
grams and one kilogram.

Iskandar alleged that the hospital halted the surgical
procedure and treatment after it discovered that the patient
could not afford the costs.

He also blamed RSCM for denying admission and treatment to
Sumaryono, even though he carried a recommendation letter from
Tarakan Hospital and another letter from the social welfare
office, confirming that he was poor and was eligible for
government medical subsidy.

In contrast to Iskandar's view, the Indonesian Doctors
Association (IDI) insisted that the two hospitals had followed
the correct procedures.

"They have carried out the procedures correctly. The only
problem is that the patient was unlucky because he was not
admitted to the second hospital, which was recommended by the
first hospital," said Budi Sampurno, head of education and
advocacy at IDI.

Budi conceded, however, that poor administration at the two
hospitals had caused the incident.

"We don't have a good (administrative) system for monitoring
patients like that in hospitals of developed countries," he said.