Epress.am News from Armenia
Appearing more frequently in the local press recently are reports of medical errors that lead to the deaths of newborn children and mothers, and people often selling their homes to pay for treatments for medical conditions that are later proven to be incorrectly diagnosed. Epress.am presents three such cases, described by those whose relatives had cancer.
Aram, 35 years old
My mother underwent breast surgery, after which she underwent chemotherapy and also took hormonal medication. Some time later, she began to experience back pains. One of the side effects of the medication was known to be back pain. Nevertheless, we went to the doctor, who decided that her nerve is compressed. He didn't send her to be examined, then prescribed her the drug Karipazim, which is prescribed for hernia of the back. Karipazim is administered by electrophoresis, which are contraindicated for my mother's disease. In any case, that doctor called the oncology center and spoke with the doctor treating my mother. It doesn't even cross the mind of the latter to send her for tests, and he gives the ok for Karipazim.
During this time, the back pains increase; again, we go to the doctor, who says, "Don't stop [taking] Karipazim,” and advises [my mother] to get a massage. Later, it became known that one of the vertebra in her spine was broken, and during that entire time, she had metastases in her back.
It was suggested to us to get an x-ray, which we did, then I took it to the doctor treating [my mother]. Only later did I find out that the x-ray wouldn’t show anything. But the doctor, looking at the x-ray, declared that there’s no oncological problem — it’s just back pain. The pains were getting worse, and again I went to the doctor, saying perhaps a MRT (magnetic resonance therapy) is needed. He says no, and the following statement I remember well: “A radiograph is enough [to see]."
We then went to another doctor, who was astonished that a diagnosis was made based on an x-ray, and that in the case of such a disease the patient wasn't sent for a MRT. The MRT showed that there were metastases and a fracture in her back. My mother died.
And what I want to say is that working in oncology today, basically, is a man, a treating physician, who sends patients to get x-rays that show nothing and, basically, kills people.
Sona, 34 years old
My father had terrible pains in his thigh. Leg pains, probably, shouldn't be such a serious concern, but not in our family: my father had undergone severe sarcoma surgery and even tooth pain scared us.
We went to get a NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) test. The doctor rushed to conclude that it was simply a rupture in the spine — a hernia — and there was no need to worry. We insisted on an examination. While my father was getting the NMR, the young and "prospective" doctor was "educating" my mother and I. He knew theory well. He found pictures online and showed us, from where and to where the blood flows, along which vessels…
– Often, when a patient feels leg pains, it doesn't cross his mind that it might come from his back… Spinal rupture can emerge from almost any part of the spine. In 90% of cases in the lumbar area, the rupture is in between the 4th and 5th vertebra… and so on…
He was a doctor; we almost believed him. We were even encouraged. Probably there was no reason for concern… The next day we went to get the results.
– Congratulations, there's no serious problem. The NMR showed that it's just a rupture, as I said.
– Are you sure?
– Here's the image; this is the spine. Do you see in between these two vertebrae?
– There's no cause for concern. It's a hernia, an ordinary hernia, added the "prospective" doctor's colleagues.
The only bright light in all this was my father's happiness — it wasn't a tumor.
But there was another issue: how to treat it if a person who's undergone such surgery can have neither a massage nor radiation, much less surgery. We were thinking about what to do; we went here and there, while the pains worsened.
Two months later, my father died. He never found out that it wasn't a hernia… it was a tumor.
Vladimir, 29 years old
My father caught a cold and had a fever for a few days — naturally, we didn't pay much attention to it. But his fever wasn't going down. He was examined; pneumonia was suspected; then the polyclinic doctor scared us, saying he suspects cancer. In one of the hospitals in Yerevan, after long and detailed inspections, the pulmonologist said: "Congratulations, there's no problem. There's water in the lung; it's the result of pneumonia." They drained the water; his fever went down; and we calmed down. But one week later, everything was the same. We went to the same pulmonologist; he shook his head, drained the water [from the lung], and sent him to get checked. The young laboratory doctor assumed the appearance of an expert and fired: "It's not good news: malignant mesothelioma."
We were in shock: though my father smoked, he never had any complaints. Thirteen years before the incident, he had surgery for a stomach ulcer, but doctors weren't tying his current condition with that. We went to one of the best pulmonologist surgeons in the city, who examined his lung, conducted analyses, and so on, and assured us it can't be mesothelioma. But as for what it was, the doctors couldn't say. We had photographed his lungs with a NMR a few times, spending nearly $2,000 already on everything, but there was no diagnosis. The surgeon decided to open his lung, to see it with his own eyes. After coming out of the operation room, he approached me and said: "His lung is clean; there's nothing [there]. But I understood that there’s some mass [an accumulation of some substances] in the abdomen."
Again we spent hundred of thousands of [Armenian] dram on NMR tests, but another surgeon insisted that they have to open him up and take a fragment for analysis. Another operation (my father had no more energy), and it turned out that it was a lymphoma in the abdomen. That second surgeon took on the responsibility; we underwent a course of treatment, during which time they suggested to him to undergo surgery and then continue chemotherapy, but he refused. He didn't undergo surgery, but after one year of suffering, my father began to feel better. Finally, after becoming familiar with numerous hospitals and laboratories, nothing surprised me except for one thing: how was it that I could never find and didn't slap the young man who in a confident tone told me "mesothelioma," explaining to me what that was?