Sudden deaths of 11 Cuban cancer patients called medical negligence
Relatives are claiming medical negligence after 11 cancer patients
suddenly died when they were given serums for chemotherapy in a hospital
in central Cuba.
By WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
El Nuevo Herald
Miami Lakes resident Norma Flores still can't make sense of the
unexpected death of her sister, Marisel Gutiérrez, who was
satisfactorily recovering from a cancer operation.
''She felt well. She was a beautiful and healthy woman,'' said Flores,
looking at recent pictures of her sister. ``What they did to her was a
crime.''
Gutiérrez, 56, was one of 11 cancer patients who died suddenly in June
at the municipal hospital in Morón, in the central province of Ciego de
Avila, as a consequence of alleged medical negligence in the use of
serums for chemotherapy.
According to testimony from medical sources, relatives of the deceased
and residents of Morón, the deaths occurred during the first three weeks
of June, after numerous patients at Roberto Rodríguez Hospital were
treated with a defective cytostatic serum. Cytostatic medications combat
the growth of tumors.
''There was a serious problem with the chemotherapy serums being
applied, and deaths occurred due to effects collateral to the
treatment,'' a doctor at the hospital told El Nuevo Herald, on condition
of anonymity.
The doctor declined to confirm a version that alleged that the
cytostatic serum given to the patients had expired. ''The affair is
under investigation,'' he said.
But two other hospital employees and relatives of the deceased, in Morón
and Miami, said the chemotherapy serums came from international
donations and bore old expiration dates.
''Treatment with expired cytostatics becomes ineffective in the battle
against cancer and can bring about a serious toxic reaction,'' said a
medical assistant at the hospital. ``Everything indicates that in those
cases the collateral effects and the complications produced by the
medicine had deadly consequences.''
The deaths have not been reported in Cuba's official media but are well
known among the people of Morón, a city with a population of 63,000
about 280 miles east of Havana.
During a telephone call last week to the municipal offices of the
Ministry of Public Health, a secretary who declined to identify herself
acknowledged that ''there have been some difficulties at the hospital''
but did not give details about the deaths.
Residents of Morón reached by phone say the events have caused some
outrage and intervention by municipal and Communist Party leaders.
''I know that there have been several meetings between the Party and the
people from Public Health,'' said María Julia Esteban, a resident of
Morón . ``It seems that several male nurses and doctors were disciplined
because of the problem.''
Meanwhile in Miami Lakes, Flores struggles to accept the tragic death of
Gutiérrez, her only sister, and repeatedly goes over the details of the
incident.
Gutiérrez underwent breast surgery in March. The operation was a success
and she was prescribed cytostatic treatment beginning in May. After the
second application of serum, she had to be returned immediately to the
hospital, where other patients were being readmitted because of severe
reactions to the chemotherapy.
Gutiérrez died June 7 and was buried three days later at Morón Cemetery.
''They gave her the serum, and three days later her mouth began to break
out. She was rushed to the hospital, suffered convulsions and died of
internal hemorrhage,'' Flores said.
''My brother-in-law is crushed,'' said Flores, who emigrated from Cuba
in 1967. ``He can't understand what happened and has complained to the
government authoritiesBut everybody [in Morón] fears to speak out and
complain about what has happened to their relatives.''
Sudden deaths of 11 Cuban cancer patients called medical negligence -
Miami-Dade - MiamiHerald.com (8 July 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1131904.html
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