Ecomedservice's director, anesthesiologist charged over post-surgery death

The director of Ecomedservice, a large private clinic in downtown Minsk, and an anesthesiologist have been formally charged over the death of a young woman, Yuliya Kubarava, following plastic surgery.

The director of the clinic, Halina Valzhankina, has been charged with negligence that resulted in the death of a patient, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, Alyaksandr Herasimaw, spokesman for the Minsk office of the Investigative Committee, told BelaPAN.

The anesthesiologist has been accused of failure to properly perform his professional duties and also faces up to five years in prison. Both suspects remain in custody.

The 25-year-old Kubarava went into a coma during or shortly after the reconstructive nose surgery at Ecomedservice on March 26. She died on April 23. Investigators linked the death to a faulty medical ventilator, claiming that it had malfunctioned for some 40 minutes during the surgery.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka directed on May 3 that the medical personnel and managers of Ecomedservice who are responsible for the death should be dismissed and punished severely.

The director and the chief engineer of the clinic were subsequently arrested and so were the four members of the surgical team that had carried out the operation. The chief engineer, the surgeon who had operated on Ms. Kubarava and two nurses have been released on their own recognizance. The nurse who had assisted the anesthesiologist was released on Monday. The surgeon and his assistant nurse are suspected of failure to properly perform their professional duties. The chief engineer, who was freed last Friday, is facing a charge of negligence that resulted in the death of a patient.