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Surgeons at Petah Tikva hospital suspended after fatal gastric bypass By Ran Reznick, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Israel, obesity, health Two senior surgeons at Hasharon Hospital in Petah Tikva have had their medical licenses revoked for two months after being convicted of maltreating a patient. Isabella Svirsky, 31, of Netanya, had gastric bypass surgery for morbid obesity in August 2002. An abdominal tear and severe infection were discovered unacceptably late following the operation, and she died a week later. The surgeons, Dan Seror and Eduard Ram, were convicted a week ago by retired judge Vardi Zeiler, a government appointee responsible for ruling and sentencing in disciplinary cases involving doctors. In suspending their licenses, Zeiler took a much tougher line than the mere warning recommended in June by the Health Ministry's disciplinary committee, and a reprimand proposed by its legal department. The suspension will take effect September 21, but Seror and Ram announced this week they will appeal the verdict and sentence in the Jerusalem District Court. Advertisement The case in question was investigated by two review boards, which found serious failings in the surgeons' treatment of Svirsky and miscommunication between themselves. Most egregious was their failure to convey vital information about the patient's worsening condition. As a result, it was discovered late that she was being treated based on an erroneous diagnosis, and was actually suffering from an abdominal puncture evidently caused during surgery. Zeiler ruled that the "gravity of the failings" requires more than a mere warning, which would fail to secure "the public's trust" and "miss the point that needs to be conveyed to doctors." The Health Ministry had cited the dragging on of the proceedings against the doctors in justifying earlier recommendations to make do with a light punishment. However, Zeiler said that Seror and Ram had contributed their "fair share" to this. This case yielded numerous unflattering facts regarding these two surgeons, some of which raise questions as to how they "evaded the need to ascertain whether their conduct involved malpractice," Zeiler stated. He described the situation at the surgical department at Hasharon as "near-chaotic with doctors treating a patient in serious condition without having the relevant information in full." Following Zeiler's verdict, a lawyer representing the Svirsky family said: "This case demonstrates again the unbearably frivolous manner in which the Health Ministry treats cases of blatant malpractice, such as this case in which negligence was established by the hospital's own review board, an inquiry committee at the Health Ministry, and the rulings of Judge Vardi Zeiler." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Facing off in Gaza Bitter infighting in Gaza may bode ill for Israel's truce with Hamas. Syria's frequent flyer Assad went to Iran to explain rather than excuse peace talks with Israel.   1.   a criminal medical behaviour 07:05  |  Drdanielito 03/08/08   2.   Two month suspension for a murder... 10:22  |  Robin 03/08/08   3.   Two month licence suspension for manslaughter? 10:30  |  Ulf 03/08/08   4.   My uncle was killed by Israeli doctors in TA 12:40  |  Tom 03/08/08   5.   Tom my sympathies 15:39  |  Ray 03/08/08   6.   Doesn`t her family get millions of dollars? 17:22  |  Fatso in USA 03/08/08

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