Victim of suspected malpractice puts house on sale to survive
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang
A "House for sale" billboard greets visitors to a house on Jl. Mandar XII/67 in the Bintaro residential area, Tangerang, where the now partly paralyzed Irwanto is trying to overcome the physical impairments he suffered apparently as a result of medical treatment he received last year.
"We need to pay back loans and the money we owe to our relatives for the medical costs. We also need money to pay for Irwanto's current medical treatment," Irwanto's wife, Irene, told The Jakarta Post recently.
Irwanto, 47, a psychologist, is the chairman of the research unit at Atmajaya University, and also heads the research department of the Jakarta Provincial Narcotics Board.
But a suspected erroneous diagnosis made by a doctor at the Bintaro International Hospital where he was treated for a week left the father of two girls confined to a wheelchair and in need of permanent nursing care.
Irwanto has filed a malpractice suit against PT Mitra Jaya Medikatama -- the company that runs the hospital, and the case is currently being heard by the Tangerang District Court.
In his lawsuit, Irwanto only demanded a public apology run in five print media and nine television channels "because the hospital would not be able to pay for the immense losses I have suffered".
Next week he is also filing a complaint with the city police against Chandramin, his cardiologist. The latter diagnosed him as suffering from heart trouble after he went to the Bintaro hospital following work on July 23, 2003, complaining of back pain.
But three hours after taking the medicine he was given, Irwanto said he lost the use of his limbs and started vomiting blood. He was rushed to the intensive care unit, but made no progress.
His family later moved him to the MMC Hospital in Kuningan, South Jakarta, where he spent two months without any improvement. The family then took him to the Tan Tok Seng Hospital in Singapore. Neurologists at this hospital said that he had originally only been suffering from fatigue and that sufficient rest and warm baths would have cured it.
Irwanto is now continuing his medical treatment with the state-run Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta.
Irene has stopped working to nurse Irwanto, although the Rp 8 million (about US$888) annual limit from Atmajaya University for family medical treatment is far from enough.
"I have to look after Bapak all the time. He does everything in bed, including reading, watching television and writing about child protection and the antidrug campaign for newspapers. He also eats his meals in bed, and needs a bedpan when defecating and urinating. Bapak needs my help," she said.
With help from the family's driver, housemaid and their daughters, Irene gets Irwanto into the wheelchair and then into his car which takes him to the Atmajaya campus on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta, at least twice a week.
"I have to remain functional. I will die if I have to stay at home," said Irwanto, adding that he would resume his duties as a lecturer of graduate students at the University of Indonesia within the next six months.