State hospitals face huge damages suits
Six state hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki have been sued for cumulative damages of 3.26 million euros by patients in lawsuits made public yesterday. The highest claim, for 1.2 million euros, was made against the KAT hospital in Athens by a 66-year-old woman who claims that during complicated, 6.5-hour leg surgery doctors severed important nerves. As a result, her suit says, the woman is unable to walk or stand up and suffers from total incontinence. The Athens Alexandra hospital is being sued for 645,000 euros by the mother of a 5-year-old tetraplegic, mentally retarded child. She claims the child’s condition is due to negligence on behalf of the gynecologist who treated her. The other suits were brought against the Aghios Savvas hospital, Thessaloniki’s Ippokrateio, the Georgios Gennimatas and the Erythros Stavros. These reactions may be anachronistic, but they also fail to resolve the real issue, the breakdown in social cohesion.
