ATTORNEY-general Alecos Markides said yesterday a charge of obstructing justice was being brought against Pantelitsa Alexandrou, Head of Anaesthesia at Nicosia General Hospital, relating to the investigation following the death during surgery of 14-year old Yiorgos Hadjidemitris.
With a court case pending, Markides was not prepared to elaborate on the evidence against Alexandrou that had led to the case, but told the Cyprus Mail: “we have given instructions to the police to proceed and prosecute contrary to article 122 of the criminal code.”
Refusing to speculate about the possible outcome of the case or the punishment faced if found guilty, Markides would only add: “the court will determine the penalty, if she is found guilty.”
Asked if the case against Alexandrou would lead to a re-opening of the investigation of the cause of death of Hadjidemitris, Markides said: “that is a separate matter, the evidence in our case is not yet complete and requires further investigation and the testimony of an expert witness.”
Health Minister Frixos Savvides said yesterday: “An investigation was carried out by the Health Ministry and the evidence of the coroner’s investigation was presented to the Attorney-general. If this results in a criminal investigation it is out of our hands. However, if he recommends disciplinary action, this will be taken by the (Health) Ministry.”
Doctors at the Nicosia General Hospital were accused of negligence by the parents of Yiorgos Hadjidemitris after the 14-year old died on April 30, 2001 during surgery. He had originally been brought to hospital with a minor cut that was cleaned up and stitched, but, four days later, the teenager was taken back to hospital with fever and pain in the stitched wound. He underwent surgery the same day to clean the wound and was kept in hospital and put on antibiotics. Three days later, with the boy’s condition deteriorating, surgeons operated again.
Tissue tests carried out in London showed the boy had died of a shock to the lungs brought on by an infection. The autopsy found that doctors had failed to remove a small piece of cloth from George’s trousers from his wound.
Private pathologist Marios Matsakis, who represented the boy’s family at the post mortem, maintains the fatality was due to “anaesthetic death.” And yesterday he accused both the Attorney-general and the Health Ministry of negligence.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
