A MEDICAL expert from abroad will be asked to investigate the case of a premature baby born in Limassol and reportedly pronounced dead, when the infant was in fact alive.
After gathering all the relevant information and evidence, Attorney-general (AG) Petros Clerides had said he needed an independent second opinion on the medical explanations offered by the doctors involved in the case.
The Health Ministry’s efforts to get a Cypriot obstetrician to take on the case have failed, after Minister Christos Patsalides received no reply from the Cyprus Gynaecologists Association’s 35 members.
This has been attributed to doctors’ reluctance to get involved in another specialist’s case and their show of solidarity towards their fellow professionals.
However, the AG had stated from the start that he would rather an expert from abroad take on the task, which yesterday led Patsalides to seek the advice of the Greek Medical Association on good foreign obstetricians.
“I had from the start asked the Health Minister to appoint an independent expert,” Clerides told the CyBC yesterday.
“The President of the Cyprus Medical Association informed me that no Cypriot doctor was willing to take this on and he suggested the appointment of a three-part scientific committee.”
But the AG said he had reservations over such a move and advised Patsalides to summon an expert from abroad.
The medical expert will be asked to examine the implicated parties’ statements and offer their expert advice on the methods that were followed; and how these practices are followed internationally.
Meanwhile, a Limassol CID spokesman yesterday confirmed investigations were indicating towards the implication of two members of Limassol Hospital’s medical staff.
But he added, “We are awaiting the advice of the independent expert before any prosecutions can be made.”
Doctors are still unsure of the extent of the damage caused to the premature infant, who was born last week at Limassol General Hospital and, according to media reports, considered dead by doctors – only to be found breathing by the hospital cleaner a few hours later.
As the baby was late being placed in an incubator, doctors estimate the true extent of the damage will show in its development over the next two years.
