Diospi Suyana becomes the victim of a smear campaign
For eleven years now the staff at Diospi Suyana are attentive to the needs of those queuing in front of the missionary hospital’s gates seeking help. 313,000 patient visits have been registered, most of them are Quechua Indians. 40 TV-reports have been full of praise about our hospital in Peru. Two Peruvian Presidents, a First Lady and 5 Ministers of Health have inspected our facilities in person. But tragically the great media and bureaucratic interest does not completely protect one from defamatory statements as the below report shows.
Tuesday afternoon, the 28th August 2018. An 80-year old driver, without a driver’s license, but in a drunken state, drives through a Curahuasi suburb and crashes a lorry. His vehicle skids across the road and slams into the front of a taxi full of passengers on the backseat of which a 35 year old man is fast asleep, but is not wearing his seatbelt. Since he has no defensive reflexes he is thrown through the taxi upon impact of the other car. He suffers severe bruises on both legs, several large haematomas and a complicated fracture of his right femur. Through the force of the impact his thighbone is smashed into quarters. All the patients involved in this accident are brought to the Hospital Diospi Suyana and are treated as emergency cases.
The man in question works for the local health station and is entitled to ESSALUD – a state insurance will cover the incurred costs. Therefore, on Wednesday morning, his boss wants to bring him via ambulance to the ESSALUD-Hospital in Abancay. Diospi Suyana’s traumatologist immediately writes the medical referral and everything is prepared for the man’s transfer. But then the health station’s boss says: “I have just called the ESSALUD-Hospital. As they do not have a traumatologist at the hospital this week, please could you perform the operation!”
No problem, we are always willing to help. We change the order of the patients that are waiting to be operated on so that the injured man is next in line.
Dr Tim Boeker has to perform a very complicated 5-hour-long operation on the injured man. The result is excellent. The intramedullary nail is in the perfect spot. All bone parts have been put back together again.
On Thursday, the 30th August the patient develops a double-sided compartment syndrome on both lower extremities due to his many inner bruises. The pressure in the muscle compartments increases dramatically. And if one does not act immediately, this can lead to a dying of the nerves, vessels and muscles. In an emergency operation both legs are opened with long cuts and the muscles are decompressed. Towards the end of the procedure the heart stands still for a very short while. The immediate resuscitation is successfull.
The Friday, Saturday and Sunday are marked by severe bleeding. The coagulation is totally messed up. A total of 21 blood reserves and plasma products are needed in order to stabilise the haemoglobin value to some degree. Despite an acute kidney failure we are able to bring the potassium level to a normal level through regular fine-tuning. His blood pressure remains steady. A breathing apparatus ensures that the level of oxygen in the patient’s blood remains in the upper area. However, severe oedemas are formed in the entire patient’s tissue and he loses a large amount of fluid via his wounds.
Sunday morning: a dentist from the Curahuasi Health Station (Posta) calls the national radio- and TV-Channel “Exitosa” and maligns the missionary hospital. He makes three outrageous statements:
1. The hospital does not have an anaesthetist. A nurse had to give the narcoses.
2. Neither the patient’s relatives nor colleagues were admitted to see him in the intensive care unit. The hospital refused to give any information about the case or its development.
3. It makes no sense that a young man ends up in the intensive care unit, if he only undergoes “minor” surgery. This must be a case of medical negligence.
His statements are broadcast a second time on Monday 3rd September. Diospi Suyana’s staff are absolutely shocked. For 5 days now they have worked night and day to save this man’s life. Instead of a thank you, a denunciator publicly denigrates them.
Two long conversations, which are recorded by mutual consent, take place between the Head of the Health Station, some colleagues and the missionary doctors John. The director of the “Posta” apologises for the odontologist’s accusations. He confirmed that both the family members and the colleagues at the Health Station were regularly informed about all proceedings concerning this man.
Six hours later the patient’s condition deteriorates dramatically. That night he is then transferred to the ESSALUD-Hospital in Cusco. Oebele de Haan, the anaesthetist Dra. Lesly, Dr. Julian and nurse Maribel keep the patient alive during the hazardous journey through the mountains. It is a frustrated try, perhaps by dialysis, to improve the patient’s condition.
It is 2:15a.m. and the missionary doctors Klaus and Martina John are sitting alone in the intensive care unit, full of consternation. It is a bitter pill to swallow, when a patient looses the battle against death and it hurts even more, if one has fought for so many days. It then becomes almost unbearable, when one then is treated with hostility. – Four hours after arriving in Cusco the patient dies.
The first diagnostic findings of the autopsy show evidence of a chronic liver disease. This could explain the extremely low level of protein in his blood, the daily massive loss of fluid from the wounds and the patient’s extreme bleeding tendency. The compartment syndrome is also confirmed.
Thursday, the 6th September. Without prior notice a commission from the medical health authority in Abancay stands at the hospital’s door. They have heard “bad things” and want to know all. The meeting in Dr John’s office could be compared to a tribunal hearing. The atmosphere is extremely tense. The missionary doctors tells all in intricate detail and suddenly the atmosphere in the room changes: “We had no idea about all these details”, say the doctors from Abancay. Having had a guided tour through the missionary hospital, the delegation is visibly impressed and upon leaving its head says: “I will soon come here as a patient.”
Friday, the 7th September. Posta’s staff blame the missionary hospital for the tragic turn of events and organise a demonstration. They try to stir up Curahuasi’s inhabitants and plan a second demonstration in front of the hospital immediately after the deceased’s funeral. They want to mobilise 80 cars and burn down a building. The tone and the content of their placards show their willingness to use force ever so clearly. Wild rumours tear through Curahuasi. It is easy to stir up the Campesinos (the mountain farmers), who are not well-educated, especially when they are under the influence of alcohol. Facts are irrelevant, cheap propaganda is all that counts.
Early that morning, Dr Klaus John flies to Lima and informs the lawyers from Estudio Olaechea about what has happened. Peru’s oldest firm of solicitors has been giving Diospi Suyana legal support for eight years now, free of charge. Immediately four lawyers get to work. Two of them accompany the German-Peruvian to the TV Channel “Exitosa” on Saturday morning. In the studio Dr John explains live what exactly happened this past week. The dentist’s three outrageous statements can be rejected as untenable point by point:
1. Of course an anaesthetist was in charge of the narcoses for both operations. In front of the recording camera he shows the colleague’s sworn statement and her Diospi Suyana contract. All 14 members of staff who were present during the operations, confirmed this with their own signatures.
2. Furthermore, he shows the detailed analysis of the security cameras. During his stay in the intensive care unit his relatives visited the patient 28 times. 4 visits were made by Posta’s staff. The cameras even recorded the conversations. Thus the dentist’s second accusation is exposed as being a lie.
3. Step by step Dr John explains the patient’s risk factors. He was an asthmatic, without proper treatment, suffered from recurrent infections in his urogenital tract and the autopsy showed signs of a chronic liver disorder.
Subsequently the missionary doctors explained the severity of the events of the accident and then each phase thereafter in great detail. The list of what was done for the patient is 12 pages long and contains 532 points. It includes: laboratory tests, x-rays, CT-scans, ultrasound examinations, bandage replacements, infusions, blood reserves, medicines and the aforementioned operations.
This number must amaze everyone watching the programme. The patient spent six days in the intensive care unit. During this time doctors and nurses went to care for the severely injured patient 267 times, thus keeping a close eye on him. Dr John commented that probably no other patient was monitored so conscientiously in the whole of Peru during the past week.
And another fact sounds absolutely unique: during the tense situation 30 Diospi Suyana missionaries formed a prayer chain: each of them praying for 60 minutes for the patient. It becomes clear to every listener that even the dentist’s third accusation, namely that of negligence, becomes almost downright grotesque.
The 20 minutes in the studio shine a clear light on the Health Station’s smear campaign, the motives of which we can only guess.
Elsewhere the efforts to protect the hospital continue. One Minister of the government is informed, two police forces are involved and the State’s Governor has also intervened. That morning 45 policemen arrived in Curahuasi in order to support the local police force, with the task of keeping the hospital, its patients and staff safe.
Christians across the globe fold their hands and pray for Diospi Suyana. We have received letters of solidarity from Australia, Paraguay, Germany, Switzerland and naturally from Peru. Some Curahuasinos organised a mass in the local Catholic Church in which prayers were said for Diospi Suyana and the missionary doctors John.
This is how things stand on Sunday, 9th September at 4p.m. We will continue reporting in due course./KDJ
