Two patients - two tragedies, one doctor: what is known about oncologist Maryna Bielotserkovska, who is on trial for medical negligence
Kyiv • UNN
Maryna Bielotserkovska — the defendant in the case regarding the death of Adnan Kivan and a now-dismissed oncologist at the Odrex clinic — is also involved in another tragic story. The father of StopOdrex movement co-founder Khrystyna Totkailo also underwent treatment with this doctor.
Oncologist Maryna Belotserkovska, a defendant in the high-profile case involving the death of Odesa businessman Adnan Kivan, is linked to another tragic story of a cancer patient at the Odrex clinic. Read about the doctor's career, the circumstances of the criminal proceedings, and the oncologist's professional principles in the UNN report.
Maryna Belotserkovska is a clinical oncologist with over twenty years of experience. She graduated from the Minsk State Medical Institute and worked for almost a quarter of a century at the N.N. Alexandrov Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Oncology and Medical Radiology in Minsk.
Later, Belotserkovska worked as an expert oncologist in Batumi. In 2020, she joined the Odesa private clinic Odrex, where she became a key oncologist responsible for polychemotherapy and the management of cancer patients. This is one of the most critical areas in oncological medicine: any mistake or untimely reaction by a doctor can have irreversible consequences for the patient. Belotserkovska was dismissed from the Odrex clinic effectively following the death of Adnan Kivan. Currently, she continues to consult cancer patients at the Denis clinic.
The Adnan Kivan case: what Belotserkovska is accused of
Maryna Belotserkovska is one of two defendants in the criminal proceedings regarding the death of businessman Adnan Kivan. Alongside her in the dock is Odrex clinic surgeon Vitaliy Rusakov. Both have been charged under Part 1 of Article 140 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – improper performance of professional duties by a medical worker, which could have caused serious consequences for the patient.
It was Belotserkovska who was responsible for Kivan's oncological treatment: prescribing and adjusting chemotherapy courses, and monitoring the patient during treatment. The investigation believes that violations may have occurred during the patient's treatment, leading to grave consequences.
Currently, the case is at the stage of a hearing "restart" – the Odesa Court of Appeal transferred the proceedings from the Prymorskyi District Court to the Kyivskyi District Court.
Khrystyna Totkaylo's father: another tragedy, the same doctor
Alongside the Adnan Kivan case, there is another story featuring Belotserkovska's name. Khrystyna Totkaylo – one of the founders of the StopOdrex public movement – told UNN that this specific doctor treated her father for cancer.
"Khrystyna Totkaylo"
In August 2024, Khrystyna's father was diagnosed with cancer. The family turned to the Kyiv hospital "Feofaniya," where a medical board concluded that aggressive chemotherapy in this case was too dangerous and should not be performed prior to radical surgical intervention.
However, surgeon Ihor Belotserkovskyi was present at that same board meeting. According to Khrystyna, it was he who suggested an alternative – turning to the Odrex clinic, where his wife, oncologist Maryna Belotserkovska, could take the patient. The family was promised that Maryna Belotserkovska could save Khrystyna Totkaylo's father's voice and larynx.
Before the trip, they had to pay for a consultation in absentia – before even arriving in Odesa. Despite Khrystyna's doubts, the family went to Odrex, because when a loved one's life is at stake, you cling to the slightest hope.
At the clinic, Belotserkovska prescribed Khrystyna's father a five-day course of chemotherapy and scheduled a second one. A gastrostomy tube was installed for the patient – a feeding system that requires constant and careful maintenance. Khrystyna asked the doctors to regularly check and change the dressings. She says she was not heard: for five days, the gastrostomy was not properly inspected. The device was only removed two hours before discharge – by which time a through-hole had already formed at the insertion site, through which everything that entered the stomach leaked out.
Upon returning to Kyiv, the family faced a sharp deterioration in the father's condition: his kidneys began to fail, and severe mucosal lesions appeared. Khrystyna immediately tried to contact oncologist Belotserkovska.
According to Khrystyna, the doctor's assistant replied that it was a day off and advised seeking help on Monday. When she asked what medications were prescribed to protect the liver and kidneys, the response was: "Why are you asking such questions?"
The family is convinced that prescribing an aggressive course of chemotherapy at this stage of the disease – when even "Feofaniya" had refused it – was a gross medical error. Over 250,000 hryvnias were paid for the treatment. Khrystyna Totkaylo's father passed away.
No official legal assessment of this situation has been provided yet. Belotserkovska herself has not commented on it publicly.
However, the mere fact that Dr. Belotserkovska's name appears in at least two tragic stories involving the deaths of cancer patients inevitably raises additional questions. Not only for the doctor herself but also for the quality control system in private medicine.