The Foundation For The Defense Of Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) has notified the Prosecutor General's Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice in the case of the doctor who refused to operate on Andrei Dragan, the 16-year-old boy who died at the Emergency Hospital in Targu Jiu.
FACIAS has requested that the prosecuting authorities investigate whether there are other individuals within the management of the Targu Jiu Emergency Hospital who are culpable of violating the established procedures by their handling of the case.
Sesizarea FACIAS vizează mai multe fapte de natură penală și a fost depusă la Parchetul General de pe lângă Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție, având în vedere expunerea mediatică a cazului și complexitatea sa.
On 11 November 2024, Andrei Dragan, a 16-year-old adolescent, was conveyed to the Emergency Hospital in Targu Jiu, presenting with acute abdominal discomfort. Subsequent investigations, including a CT scan, led to the diagnosis of pneumoperitoneum, necessitating emergency surgical intervention.
Doctor Valentin Neagu, who was on duty in the general surgery department, declined to perform the operation, citing a lack of competence in paediatric surgery. He instead opted to transfer the patient to a hospital in Craiova. This decision ultimately proved fatal, resulting in Andrei entering into a state of cardio-respiratory arrest and subsequently succumbing before receiving adequate medical care.
Doctor Valentin Neagu violated legal obligations regarding emergency interventions in pediatric cases
The doctor had a legal, as well as a moral, obligation to intervene in this emergency situation, even outside his specific competences, in the absence of other qualified personnel.
This obligation is also supported by the practice of the Târgu Jiu Emergency Hospital, where pediatric emergencies were previously treated by general practitioners. The doctor's decision is also contrary to a medical council decision of October 30, 2024, which clearly stipulated that pediatric emergencies should be managed locally until a medical board's opinion was obtained.
The arguments presented by Dr. Valentin Neagu regarding the exceeding of competence are unsubstantiated. In this regard, Law 95/2006 is unambiguous. Article 63, paragraph 4, stipulates that "medical personnel shall be civilly liable for damages caused in the exercise of their profession and when they exceed the limits of their competence, except in emergency cases in which medical personnel with the necessary competence is not available."
The criminal complaint targets the hospital management and ambulance services for mishandling the case
It is emphasised by FACIAS that the responsibility for this tragedy does not lie solely with Dr Valentin Neagu. The criminal complaint also includes individuals within the hospital and ambulance service management who failed to provide the necessary conditions for the timely treatment of the patient.
Systemic deficiencies, including an insufficient number of qualified personnel and inadequate management of the medical transfer, were contributing factors in the unfortunate death of Andrei Dragan.
We must have zero tolerance for such cases, and those responsible must be held accountable, so as not to create the premises for such conduct to become a generalized phenomenon.