One of cases highlighted by Algarve’s whistleblowing doctor makes headlines
One of the 11 cases of alleged botched surgeries highlighted by a young surgical intern at Faro Hospital has been splashed over the front page of tabloid Correio da Manhã today.
It concerns a man who went into the hospital for what he believed would be a simple operation, and came out “mutilated”.
José spent two months in a coma, recounts the paper. He is now an invalid: unable to walk, dependent on a colostomy bag; he can only talk with difficulty.
Coming as this story does only days since Professor Emeritus José Ponte wrote that “citizens have no idea of risks they run when treated at Faro’s surgical service”, the horror simply adds further weight to the allegations made by 27-year-old Diana Pereira.
“Nahir dreamed of returning to Brazil”, CM’s text begins. Everything was in place when suddenly her husband suffered intense pain, and their lives were never the same again.
José was diagnosed with an inflamed intestine. He was admitted to surgery at Faro Hospital, from which he emerged in a coma, with a perforated intestine; a man “mutilated”, according to his wife. “Living with a (colostomy) bag is very violent from the psychological point of view; it is as if his life has been brought to a halt”.
The surgeon who performed José’s surgery is the surgeon Diana Pereira has complained about.
There are currently a number of investigations ongoing into the young doctor’s claims. She herself has taken a leave of absence.
