By ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ (GREEK) TÜRKÇE (TURKISH)
What happened following the scandal in the Neonatal Unit of the Emergency Hospital—deprived of required legal permissions, an approved architectural project, a legal electrical system and an officially appointed Chief Physician—during the construction of which a labourer died and the ribbon of which was cut by AKP (not to forget that the hospital is also not included in the framework of the Ministry of Health Organisation Law) is as heavy on our conscience as the incident itself.
While the fact that the incident was kept hidden from the families by the Ministry of Health and the police from the very first day, and that the family of baby Mihrimah was not even informed about the death of their baby (so that it would not leak to the press) is as clear as daylight, we only ended up talking about ‘the five nurses’…
There are a couple of strange aspects to this story: Those who spew hatred against the nurses and consider them as the only ones to blame, and those who try to protect the nurses.
Journalists who think they know everything about the labour process, especially men…
The rating wars of frenzied social media influencers who do nothing but provoke the society and spread hatred…
And in addition to these, while there is the ‘medical’ dimension of the issue—which should had been questioned from day one, and which was purposefully kept away from the agenda of both the society and the press—awkward statements coming, in unison, from physician unions and associations.
In this incident, there are things we are sure of, things we know, and things we do not know the answer of, and need to ask.
What we are sure of;
In the aftermath of such a scandal, Hakan Dinçyürek, the Minister of Health, who has political and bureaucratic responsibility even if he may not have been practically involved in the incident; Adil Özyılkan, Chief Physician of Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital, to which the Emergency Hospital is officially affiliated, and Erol Uçaner, the so-called Chief Physician of the so-called hospital, should had resigned.
What we know;
That, from what the nurses told their lawyers; the autopsies and tests performed on the deceased baby Mihrimah, and six other babies who were fighting for their lives, ethyl alcohol was mixed into the formula of the babies, resulting in the babies getting sick.
Additionally, information on who the nurses working during that shift were—and even who put the alcohol in the kettle and who fed the babies—and that the ethyl alcohol was brought to the unit in a water bottle…
What we don’t know
- On which day and at what time was the ethyl alcohol put in the kettle?
- How many formulas were prepared with that water, how many babies were fed in what frequency?
- At what time and by which nurse, exactly, was it realised that the babies were sick?
- Who was the first person informed by the nurse who realised that the babies were sick?
- Who was the physician on duty? Which nurse informed him/her, at what time?
- At what time did the relevant physician on duty arrive?
- What kind of tests did the physician perform on the babies?
- How did the attending physician intervene, especially in the case of baby Mihrimah?
- What were the interventions performed on baby Mihrimah? Was it the right kind of intervention?
- Does the autopsy report of baby Mihrimah, which states that ‘entry was made from both sides’, suggest that the respirator was first installed incorrectly and then corrected?
- What were the results of the tests performed?
- On which day and at what time did the Minister of Health learn about the incident?
- What did the Minister do, first thing, after he learnt about the incident?
- On which day and at what time was the incident reported to the police?
- When and how did the police initiate the first investigation?
- At what time and from where did the families learn about the incident?
- Who gave the instruction not to inform the families immediately?
- Why was the ethyl alcohol not brought in its original packaging?
While all these questions are waiting to be answered, why do the unions of physicians—which are supposed to question who the physician was and whether the baby Mihrimah was treated right, or wrong—issue an angry statement and not raise any of these questions?
As wrong as it is to defame professional organizations, it is just as wrong for the same professional organizations to protect their own members.
The aim here should be to identify and bring to justice all those responsible—everyone who is directly and indirectly involved—and then to talk about how to correct this system and raise social awareness.
Otherwise, as long as some protect the nurses, some protect the physicians, some protect the system, and some fight for ratings and contribute to the current situation with their brazen comments on unverified, nonsensical information, and provoke social hatred, we will not be able to get out of this mess…
This article was first published on 01.11.2024
Source: WHAT WE KNOW FOR SURE, WHAT WE KNOW, AND WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
