After a prolonged pause, the court resumed consideration of the case concerning medical negligence by Odrex doctors
Kyiv • UNN
Despite a series of postponements, the Kyivskyi District Court of Odesa continued hearing the case concerning medical negligence by Odrex doctors Vitalii Rusakov and Maryna Bielotserkovska.
After a lengthy series of postponements, the Kyivskyi District Court of Odesa finally managed to make progress in the criminal case concerning the medical negligence of doctors at the private Odrex clinic, Vitalii Rusakov and Maryna Bielotserkovska. As sources told UNN, two of the three scheduled hearings took place. Another hearing had to be postponed for technical reasons.
The active consideration of the case last week was rather an exception against the backdrop of how the proceedings had unfolded in recent months. The criminal case has been ongoing for almost ten months, yet a significant number of the scheduled hearings have not taken place. This was due to repeated postponements caused by the participation of the accused doctors’ lawyers in other court proceedings, motions to recuse the judge, and a change of jurisdiction.
Vitalii Rusakov and Maryna Bielotserkovska are accused of improperly performing their professional duties, which, according to the investigation, may have caused the death of businessman Adnan Kivan. The court must determine whether the doctors complied with standards for providing medical care and whether there is a causal link between their actions (or inaction) and the patient’s death.
However, the path to examining the key medical evidence proved protracted. As a result, presiding Judge Viktor Chaplytskyi deemed the reasons for the regular absence of the accused doctors’ lawyers unjustified and appealed to the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Bar.
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Subsequently, Rusakov’s defense filed a motion to recuse the presiding judge for the third time. The court denied the motion, but it was also impossible to proceed with the further consideration of the case that day because the accused himself failed to appear.
Let us recall
In recent months, the case has been heard behind closed doors due to the need to protect medical confidentiality and the deceased patient’s medical data. The court is examining and quoting medical records, information about the patient’s health, the course of treatment, and other information whose access is restricted by law.