Doctors charged over death of 10-year-old boy

TWO doctors were charged yesterday in connection with the death of a 10-year-old boy who was being treated at the Makarios children hospital in Nicosia.

The head of the hospital’s children’s department, Michalis Angastiniotis, 63, and gastroenterologist Michalis Lerios, 52, are facing two charges over the death of Demis Loizou, who died from acute hepatitis while receiving treatment at the hospital between March 4 and 25, 1999.

The pair were charged with unintentionally causing Loizou’s death through a reckless or dangerous action and acting in a hasty or negligent manner by administering a drug to a patient.

The doctors were charged with negligence for their role in administering the drug Salofalk, and are accused of failing to monitor his situation and not assessing correctly the potential side effects of the drug, which are blamed for causing the patient acute hepatitis and subsequently death.

Lerios, as specialist gastroenterologist, with the agreement of the first defendant, the head of the Makarios Hospital Paediatric Department, administered Salofalk to Loizou and neglected to carry out the necessary monitoring after the administration, did not assess correctly the potential side-effects of the drug, which caused acute hepatitis and put the patient’s life in danger, the second charge said.

The two doctors have pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution yesterday submitted the minutes of the inquest into the boy’s death.
The trial continues on Thursday with the boy’s father, who is also a nurse, expected to take the stand as the first prosecution witness.

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