Patient Dies, Case Stalls
The Kyiv District Court of Odesa has for the third consecutive time failed to continue hearing a criminal case against doctors from the private clinic Odrex, Vitaly Rusakov and Marina Belotserkivska. The next court hearing did not take place due to the absence of Vitaly Rusakov's attorney, according to UNN.
The case concerns surgeon Vitaly Rusakov and oncologist Marina Belotserkivska, who are accused under Part 1 of Article 140 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – improper performance of professional duties by medical workers. Both are defendants in the case, whose guilt must be proven in court.
What Happened to the Patient
According to the investigation, after surgery, the doctors may have failed to prescribe their patient Adnan Kivan the necessary antibiotic therapy and failed to respond adequately to post-operative complications. According to forensic medical examination findings, this could have led to the development of sepsis and death.
Three Consecutive Failures
Over the past two weeks, this is already the third court hearing that has not taken place due to the absence of the defense counsel. Formally, this concerns the procedural right to defense, but the systematic nature of these disruptions has turned the case review into a process without any real progress.
Earlier, the accused surgeon Vitaly Rusakov publicly criticized the presiding judge Viktor Chaplitsky for allegedly high pace of the case review. According to the accused, hearings in his case should be scheduled no more than once a month.
Here a conflict of interest arises: the accused publicly demands slowing down the process, while his defense systematically fails to appear in court. Whether the judge will consider such behavior an abuse of procedural rights and whether he will begin scheduling hearings without the attorney on formal grounds – this question will determine when the deceased patient's relatives will see at least the first substantive hearing.
