An old proverb says: rats are the first to flee a sinking ship. And although this saying has long become a metaphor, the story of former Odrex clinic doctor Maryna Bielotserkovska increasingly resembles just such a scenario, writes UNN.
Oncologist Maryna Bielotserkovska, together with the head of the surgical department of the Odrex clinic, Vitalii Rusakov, are accused of improper performance of professional duties by a medical worker, which could have caused serious consequences for the patient and led to the death of businessman Adnan Kivan. However, even before the case began to gain public attention, the doctor left the clinic.
Formally, this can be explained by any reasons – from professional burnout to career plans. However, the coincidence of circumstances looks too telling. Bielotserkovska stopped working at Odrex immediately after the patient's death. Obviously, the doctor realized that it would no longer be possible to hide the problems inside the clinic. After all, the investigation of criminal proceedings involves checks not only of the specific actions of doctors but also of internal processes within the medical facility itself.
In particular, questions began to arise regarding the quality of medical care, compliance with treatment protocols, documentation management, and the overall culture of responsibility at Odrex. And, as subsequent events showed, these concerns were not unfounded.
The patient's death opened Pandora's box
Although Odrex tried to present the patient's death as an isolated tragic incident, after the case became public, other patients and relatives of the deceased began to appear who shared their own experiences of treatment at the private clinic.
One of the most resonant stories belongs to Svitlana Huk. According to her, her husband was admitted to the clinic for a minimally invasive surgery, but instead, he underwent a significantly more complex surgical intervention. After the operation, severe complications began, and the family faced the need to pay huge sums for treatment every day.
The woman claims that the bills for staying in the clinic amounted to tens of thousands of hryvnias per day, while her husband's condition only worsened. What shocked society the most was the story that after the patient's death, representatives of the medical facility allegedly demanded documents for her apartment to pay off the accumulated debt.
But Huk's story turned out to be far from the only one. In the documentary film "The Hornet's Nest," other relatives of patients also spoke about possible medical errors, financial pressure, problems with medical documentation, and treatment circumstances that raised serious questions for them.
For example, another case concerns the father of the co-founder of the StopOdrex public movement, Khrystyna Totkailo. According to her, after an oncological diagnosis was established, the family turned to the Feofaniya hospital, where a council of doctors concluded that aggressive chemotherapy at this stage was too risky and should not be carried out before radical surgical intervention. However, as Khrystyna claims, the surgeon Ihor Bielotserkovskyi, who was present at the council, suggested contacting the Odessa clinic Odrex, where the patient's treatment could be handled by his wife – oncologist Maryna Bielotserkovska. The daughter was promised a chance to preserve her father's voice and larynx, so she decided to agree to treatment at the Odessa private clinic.
According to Khrystyna Totkailo, at Odrex, her father was prescribed a course of aggressive chemotherapy and had a gastrostomy tube installed, which required constant medical supervision. The family repeatedly drew the doctors' attention to the need for care of the system, but, as Totkailo claims, there was no proper response.
After returning to Kyiv, her father's condition deteriorated sharply: severe complications began, problems with kidneys and mucous membranes arose. The family paid over 250 thousand hryvnias for treatment, but unfortunately, they could not save the man.
So it became obvious that the Odrex story had gone far beyond a single criminal proceeding.
The reputation ship began to take on water
For any doctor who worked within the system, the emergence of such stories would mean serious reputational risks. Especially for those directly involved in criminal proceedings.
With each new testimony, each new publication, and each new court hearing, the risk that society would begin to ask uncomfortable questions not only to individual doctors but to the entire clinic became increasingly higher.
The accused surgeon Vitalii Rusakov apparently decided to monetize this story and started a blog on his social networks, where he actively covers all events, his activities, and even tries to promote himself on the case regarding the patient's death.
However, Bielotserkovska took a different path and tried to distance herself from the problems at Odrex. After all, remaining a doctor at the Odessa clinic, she would inevitably be associated with all the complaints and grievances of other patients.
With her resignation, the oncologist apparently wanted to create the impression that she no longer had any connection to the medical facility and its internal processes. In other words – to leave the ship in time before it finally sank under the weight of accumulated problems.
And the court continues to drag on
The paradox is that despite leaving the clinic, Bielotserkovska remains one of the doctors accused of medical negligence that could have caused the patient's death. And while society awaits the trial on the merits, the process continues to be accompanied by attempts to delay it. By the way, it is precisely because of the absence of Bielotserkovska's defense lawyer that the court has been unable to proceed to the trial on the merits for a month and is forced to postpone court hearings.
According to lawyers interviewed by UNN, the defense side in this case is resorting to a tactic of deliberately delaying the trial so that, in the end, the case is closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution. Lawyers often resort to such a strategy when they run out of arguments to refute the accusations in court.
However, time cannot erase society's demand for justice. On the contrary, each new postponement only strengthens suspicions that the defense is trying to win not the truth, but time.
And the more facts come into the public domain, the more questions arise as to whether Maryna Bielotserkovska was one of the first to understand that the death of Adnan Kivan would be the beginning of a process that would reveal much more to society than just one tragic incident.