MOLDOVA: Moldovan doctors use construction tools for surgery in leaked video, outraging the public and government officials

Record ID: 861142

  • Title: MOLDOVA: Moldovan doctors use construction tools for surgery in leaked video, outraging the public and government officials
  • Date: 24th July 2013
  • Summary: CHISINAU, MOLDOVA (JULY 24, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF 'VALENTIN IGNATENCO' CLINIC
  • Embargoed: 8th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Moldova, Republic of
  • City:
  • Country: Moldova, Republic of
  • Topics: Health,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA67SWJ4E0V4I7CKPBB7N93ZP7J
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Doctors at a Moldovan state-run hospital used household tools, including an electric drill and pliers, to perform surgery in a video leaked to local press and published on the Internet, prompting outrage among the public and government officials.
    Local television stations ran the short but graphic video, recorded at a children's hospital in Chisinau, repeatedly on Monday (July 22).
    "This is a simple construction drill, not meant for medical purposes. We can't fully sterilize it in order for us, as doctors, to be able to pick it up with our hands. So the nurse holds the drill and we direct it," head of the hospital's trauma department Grigore Rusanovsci said.
    The doctors have claimed that the hospital hasn't received any new equipment for many years.
    "We've used this drill for decades and all our hopes of getting medical equipment to work with are ending without succes," traumotologist Nicolae Curca said.
    However, Nicolae Starciuc, head physician at the hospital, told local media he suspected disgruntled doctors had leaked the video to discredit him. Starciuc is not the only one in Moldova to discredit the video.
    "I don't believe that this drill is in the operating room. Maybe the doctor brought it in to besmirch the name of the hospital and its director. We must deal with both situations whether the director or the doctor is at fault", head of Chisinau municipal health department Mihai Moldovanu said.
    Prime Minister Iurie Leance ordered Healthcare Minister Andrei Usatii on the same day to investigate the incident.
    Usatii, in turn, told local television that while the use of household tools was allowed in certain circumstances, the hospital in question had adequate specialised equipment.
    "From a medical point of view, providing that all conditions of sterilization and safety are observed, any drill can be used for giving a rotational motion to the drill bit which pierces the bone".
    Moldova, a former Soviet republic of 4 million, is one of the poorest nations in Europe with an average monthly wage of about $300.
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