‘If You Had Done Something, I Wouldn’t Have Gone to Court’: Father of Deceased 2-Year-Old to Doctors

In the opinion of Arabkir Joint Medical Center doctors Lilit Vardanyan and Zarine Ayvzyan, accused in the death of 2-year-old Lia Misakyan, they are accused only because they are young doctors. "But when young journalists write about us, their written words are not questioned," said Ayvazyan today at the Court of General Jurisdiction of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative Districts of Yerevan.

Recall, according to the case materials, Lia Minasyan's parents took their daughter to the Arabkir Joint Medical Center on Dec. 31, 2013, at around 8 pm, but on Jan. 2, 2014, the child died, according to the expert, from pneumonia.

Expert Gagik Harutyunyan continued to be questioned in court today. Ayvazyan's attorney, Yerem Sargsyan, tried to prove that the conclusion was wrong, and his client gave the correct diagnosis: the child did not have symptoms of pneumonia. Sargsyan, in particular, said the child had hyperventilation of 30–32; meanwhile, to be considered a symptom of pneumonia, there must be more than 40 breaths. The expert said it's not only breathing that indicates the existence of pneumonia. 

"The child refused to eat; for 3 days, her temperature did not drop. She had […]; her lips were blue; [she was] vomiting," said the expert. 

Sargsyan implied that the expert is unreliable. He recalled that the examination carried out by Harutyunyan in another case of death (of Mariam Arshakyan) was later rejected. The attorney also said that the expert failed to conduct a bacteriological examination; thus, he cannot confidently assert that the liquid from the child's throat was pus. Since Yerem Sargsyan had a lot of questions, presiding Judge Avetisyan urged the witness to respond only to questions directly related to the conclusion. 

The child's father, Georgy Miskayan, intervened during the questioning. "You act as if my child is sitting next to me, and I'm here, engaging in monkey business. Within two days, the child was gone. If you had done something, I wouldn't have come to court," he said, addressing the doctors. 

Speaking to Epress.am during recess, Lilit Vardanyan's attorney, Givi Hovhannisyan, said when the child was admitted she didn't have pneumonia, but was diagnosed with acute respiratory infection, and the treatment was carried out accordingly. In the attorney's opinion, the child subsequently acquired fulminant pneumonia.