Hospitals sued by patients
Three patients have sued two of the capital’s largest hospitals for a total of 520 million drachmas in compensation for wrong diagnoses and the resulting damage to their health, in actions made public yesterday. In the first case, a 66-year-old diabetic woman is seeking 120 million drachmas from the Ippocrateio Hospital, one of whose doctors last Christmas recommended that she should treat a painful, swollen leg with disinfectant and antibiotics. When the pain persisted, the same doctor urged her to use the leg as much as possible. Eventually, she went to the KAT Hospital, where gangrene was diagnosed. First, three toes were amputated and then the entire foot. The Ippocrateio was also sued for 250 million drachmas by a 32-year-old man who had a pacemaker installed at the hospital three years ago. He now claims the device’s wires have given him a cardiac infection. And a third, 43-year-old man is seeking 150 million from the Yennimatas Hospital whose doctors allegedly failed to detect a bone fracture that, untreated, has led to a permanent disability.
