Stories of former patients of the Odrex clinic that most impressed StopOdrex activists

Anonymous stories coming to the StopOdrex platform sometimes shock even the movement's activists. Co-founder of the movement Khrystyna Totkailo believes that this experience cannot be silenced, as it can help prevent future tragedies. Read about what impressed the activists most in the UNN material.

The StopOdrex movement is a public initiative created by the families of deceased patients of the Odrex clinic and people who consider themselves victims of treatment in this medical institution. As UNN previously wrote, after three blockages of StopOdrex, activists relaunched the platform and are now communicating on two sites at once: website and Telegram channel. According to the movement's representatives, their mission is to collect stories about negative treatment experiences at Odrex, provide mutual support, inform the public about criminal proceedings involving the clinic, and most importantly, prevent new tragedies.

One of those who publicly communicates on behalf of the movement is StopOdrex co-founder Khrystyna Totkailo. In an interview with UNN, she admitted that some anonymous stories received from people are so shocking that it is impossible to read them calmly.

When I read some anonymous stories that people send us to the website and Telegram, my hair literally stands on end. And the most frightening thing is that people write not only about "fresh" cases, we receive stories from as far back as 2019. This means that the tragedies that are now being openly discussed have been happening for years, people were just afraid and silently bore their pain. I am glad that we created the StopOdrex movement, because only now is the real picture of what is happening in this clinic beginning to emerge. If such a platform had existed earlier, I am sure that some of the tragedies could have been avoided. People would have simply googled what Odrex is, seen our website or Telegram channel, read these stories, and thought again about whether they are ready to risk their lives or the lives of their loved ones.

According to Khrystyna Totkailo, behind every story that people send to StopOdrex lies a broken fate: death, severe consequences of treatment, financial and psychological pressure on families. That is why, the activist believes, these stories cannot be silenced.

I was very impressed by the story about the death of a father, when the family, who was already experiencing a terrible loss, was essentially told that they were to blame because they allegedly brought him to Odrex too late. And this is despite the fact that, as the family itself says, the problem was in the delay of the Odrex ambulance. Honestly, I don't know what one must have in their head to tell the relatives of the deceased at such a moment that they are to blame for his death. Perhaps I perceive this so painfully also because my father also died because of Odrex... I was no less touched by the story about a man whom his family brought to Odrex, entrusted his life to the doctors, and as a result, he only got worse there. Relatives were not allowed to see him, and only because a relative worked at the clinic, the family managed to get into the ward and see the condition of their loved one. After that, he was urgently transferred to another hospital, where his condition was stabilized. And I keep thinking, what would have happened if they hadn't managed to transfer him to another hospital? Would we be reading another story without a happy ending, another story about a life cut short?

Over the past month, the Telegram channel has received a number of stories that did not end fatally, but left serious consequences for health, psyche, and people's trust in doctors.

One young girl said that a gynecologist at the Odrex clinic prescribed COCs without additional tests. After that, she started having panic attacks. When she contacted the doctor, she was told that this does not happen, and then – just a short "cancel the drug." Without a normal consultation, without help, without responsibility for what happened to the person due to her prescription. In another clinic, the girl was told that due to the peculiarities of her endometrium, oral contraceptives were generally contraindicated for her. This story is already on the website, and you can read it in more detail.

The situation with gynecology there is very alarming. Every sixth story we receive is somehow related to this area. As a woman, this particularly concerns me. For example, another woman told how she was intimidated at Odrex: they ran around her, talked about some urgent operation, shouted about risks, created panic, invited other medics to her ultrasound, led her to different offices. And when she turned to another doctor just to check if the diagnosis she received at Odrex was correct, it turned out that she did not need any operation, especially an urgent one. And it's good that these two women managed to turn to other specialists and get checked. It's good that at least here everything did not end in tragedy, but it could have.

That is why StopOdrex activists urge people not to remain silent about their own treatment experiences. In their opinion, only when victims begin to openly talk about such cases will it be possible to see the real scale of the problem around the Odrex clinic.

It should be noted that all stories submitted to the StopOdrex platforms are published anonymously. After all, people are often not ready to speak openly about their experiences due to fear of pressure or persecution. As UNN previously wrote, Svitlana Huk, the widow of a former patient of the Odrex clinic, fears further escalation of pressure on those who publicly share their negative experience of treatment in this medical institution. She believes that the pressure may go beyond informational or psychological and turn into physical violence.

Recall

The StopOdrex website has ceased operations three times after complaints from a company associated with the Odrex clinic. At the same time, publicly, representatives and lawyers of the clinic stated that they allegedly knew nothing about the existence of this resource.

Separately, the UNN editorial office contacted the Odrex clinic with a question as to why its representatives denied knowledge of StopOdrex during a press conference, if a company associated with the clinic, according to activists, complained about this website at least three times. And lawyers tried to obtain data about the domain owners. The clinic administration ignored this question.

Against the background of such circumstances, the fears of people who do not want to publicly disclose their names and prefer to share their stories only anonymously seem quite understandable.