In the case concerning medical negligence by Odrex doctors, a full court hearing was held for the first time in several weeks
Kyiv • UNN
On August 7, the Kyivskyi District Court of Odesa continued examining evidence in the case of Odrex doctors accused of negligence that led to the death of a patient. Previously, hearings had been postponed because defense attorneys failed to appear.
The Kyiv District Court of Odesa was able, for the first time in several weeks, to hold a full-fledged court hearing in the case involving doctors of the private Odrex clinic Vitaliy Rusakov and Maryna Bielotserkovska, who are accused of medical negligence, reports UNN.
The hearings are held behind closed doors due to the sensitivity of the information concerning the patient's treatment. As UNN learned, at the hearing held on August 7, the court finally resumed examining the evidence in the case concerning the actions of one of the accused medical professionals.
The case concerns criminal proceedings against surgeon Vitaliy Rusakov and oncologist Maryna Bielotserkovska, who are charged under Part 1 of Article 140 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — improper performance of professional duties by medical workers.
According to the investigation, after performing the operation, the doctors may have failed to prescribe the necessary antibacterial therapy to their patient, Adnan Kivan, and may have responded improperly to postoperative complications. According to the findings of a forensic medical examination, this could have led to the development of sepsis and death. The accused do not admit their guilt.
The court is currently at the stage of examining the evidence. It is at this stage that medical documentation, the conclusions of forensic medical examinations, clinical protocols, and other case materials are being studied.
The court hearing held on August 7 was preceded by weeks of delays in the trial: three consecutive hearings did not take place because the defense attorneys failed to appear.
The next court hearing is scheduled for September 3. The court is expected to continue examining the evidence, this time concerning the other accused person.
The nearly month-long break between hearings will obviously please the accused, Vitaliy Rusakov, who stated that the case should be heard no more than once a month. He criticized Judge Viktor Chaplytskyi for the excessive intensity of the trial, despite the fact that, as we noted, the proceedings had not taken place because representatives of the defense had failed to appear.
Overall, the criminal case involving doctors of the private Odrex clinic has been heard in court for more than seven months. During this time, the proceedings have repeatedly been postponed due to procedural motions by the defense. In particular, the defendants' lawyers filed motions to recuse judges, initiated a change of venue, requested that the indictment be returned to the prosecutor, and individual court hearings were postponed because defense attorneys failed to appear and due to other procedural circumstances. As a result, after the proceedings were transferred from the Prymorskyi District Court to the Kyiv District Court of Odesa, the preparatory proceedings had to be repeated, and when the court finally began considering the merits of the case, the defense attorneys began ignoring the hearings.
Lawyers interviewed by UNN did not rule out that the combination of such procedural actions could be a defense strategy aimed at having the case closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In particular, Denys Nevyadomskyi, president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Retired Judges, emphasized that every unjustified postponement of a trial brings the criminal proceedings closer to closure on the grounds that the statute of limitations has expired, which would make it impossible to establish the truth in the case concerning Adnan Kivan's death.
The accused, who plead not guilty, should be interested in having the case heard and the truth established as quickly as possible, especially since being in the status of accused persons imposes certain procedural restrictions on them: at the beginning of August, by a court decision, Vitaliy Rusakov and Maryna Bielotserkovska had the preventive measure in the form of a personal recognizance extended for another two months. In addition, as accused Vitaliy Rusakov reported on his Facebook page, the court also extended his suspension from the positions of head of Surgical Department No. 2, surgeon, and endoscopist at Medical Home "Odrex" LLC. At the same time, the investigation has grounds to believe that, despite this, Rusakov practices medicine outside the institution and without recording his actions in medical documentation.