Thessaloniki: Patient dies in emergency hospital, body found hours later

A 43-year-old man died in a chair in the emergency department of a major hospital in Thessaloniki, his body was found hours later when the medical staff changed.

The man went to the hospital with pain in his leg, the doctors did not find anything terrible and sent him home. The patient refused to go, citing poor health. But no one paid any attention to his words.

His family has hired a technical consultant and lawyer to seek justice for the death of a loved one.

The case is coming to light as more and more Greeks complain on social media about the circumstances in severely understaffed public hospitals in more than two years of the pandemic. They complain about the lack of staff, the overload of medical and paramedical staff, about administrative staff and even medical staff who leave their places without warning, that the examination time is sometimes reduced to several minutes, and about the increasingly aggressive behavior towards patients.

The Greeks blame the government for these circumstances, saying it abandoned the public health system in favor of privatization.

An unprecedented case with a 43-year-old man

According to media reports, a surgeon at the Papanicolaou hospital examined a patient in the emergency room late at night on April 1, 2022. He decided that he had nothing serious and could be discharged. However, the patient reacted strongly to being discharged, stating that he did not feel well, and even tensions were reported between him and the emergency room staff.

When he refused to leave the hospital, the staff called security, who demanded that he leave the premises. The patient insisted that he would not leave, and went to sit on a chair in the emergency room. He died about an hour and a half later. His body was “discovered” many hours later, at 11 a.m., when the medical staff changed shifts. This unprecedented adventure in one of the largest public hospitals in the country did not end there.

Since the deceased did not have an identity card with him, the hospital administration notified the police. The police arrived at the scene and called all relatives of peoplewho arrived at the emergency room that night.

After contacting hospital staff – while the doctor who discharged the man was away – the deceased’s relatives were finally located and invited to come to the Papanicolaou hospital to identify the body. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a pulmonary embolism…

“If they measured his oxygen, they would understand that the person is dying”

Still in shock a month and a half after the tragic death of his brother, Andreas Carabas told local media ThessToday.gr that “the protocol was not followed, and this led to the death” of his brother. “If the necessary examinations had been carried out, my brother would not have died,” Karabas emphasized.

When the victim’s family confirmed his identity and signed the necessary papers, the relatives informed the hospital administration that they would sue anyone guilty of negligent homicide.

The family’s technical adviser Dimitris Galenteris explained to ThessToday that the mechanism behind the pulmonary embolism is under investigation. , Galenteris said. Emphasizing, however, that “this is not yet certain, as we await the results of toxico-histopathological studies that will provide answers to the causes of death.”

According to the family’s technical consultant, results are expected within next five months (no need to trifle, write a year at once): “We are looking to see if it was possible to avoid the tragedy with the help of simple measures.”

The family’s legal adviser, Theodoros Manolis, said that if negligent homicide is discovered, the victim’s relatives will sue those responsible. “Together with our appointed technical consultant and forensic experts – as ΕΛΑΣand the hospital, we are waiting for answers about the exact causes of death, whether there were errors and omissions on the part of the hospital staff, ”said Manolis.

Death of a 3 year old girl

Meanwhile parents A 3-year-old girl who died in another hospital in Thessaloniki on April 30 has been sued against the Ippokratio hospital. She was taken to the hospital with ankle swelling and was later transferred to the intensive care unit, where she died a couple of hours later from “multiple organ collapse,” the official cause of death.

First, the baby was hospitalized in another hospital, Papageorgiou, and then taken to Ipppocratio. The parents told the media that the initial diagnosis was “Kawasaki disease” as a side effect of long-term Covid-19, as the girl contracted the coronavirus some time ago and recovered. reportedthat the girl was being treated for Kawasaki disease, which causes swelling (inflammation) in children in the walls of small to medium-sized blood vessels that carry blood throughout the body.

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