The Court of Portimão has postponed the sentencing of the gynecologist accused of negligent homicide for allegedly causing the death of a woman during surgery.
The case dates back to April 2011 when the victim, a 27-year old nurse underwent surgery to improve her chances of conceiving.
The operation was undertaken at the private Hospital Particular do Algarve in Alvor, Portimão, by the then head of obstetrics and gynecology Madlen Youssif Benun.
According to the prosecution, the medical procedure caused an "intra-abdominal hemorrhage and laceration of the liver," which led to the death of Vera Alves.
Madlen Benun was accused by the Public Ministry in January 2012. The judiciary decided there were sufficient grounds to charge the surgeon with negligent homicide.
According to the indictment, the death of Vera Alves was due to the negligence of Madlen Benun during surgery who failed to proceed with the degree of caution that, "under the circumstances, was required and of which the defendant was capable."
During the trial, the defendant asserted that "all the usual procedures for the operation were made," claiming that it was "an accident, resulting from the risks that surgery entails."
Madlen Benun told the court that during the surgery and the haemorrhage started he was unable to detect the source of the bleeding and called a surgeon who detected a perforation of the abdominal aorta.
Benun admitted that although it is rare, there is always the risk of rupture of arteries during surgery and explained that obstetric surgeons do not have expertise to deal with this, leaving this task to vascular or general surgeons.
According to one of the managers of the hospital, at the time of the accident there was no general surgeon at the hospital, the nearest was called, taking about 25 minutes to reach the operating room.
During the trial, three doctors were heard as witnesses - an anaesthetist an obstetrician and a general surgeon – who all were involved with the surgical procedure. They claimed that Madlen Benun "acted in accordance with the normal procedures for the situation."
However, there were some contradictions in the testimonies of two of the clinicians in relation to how the bleeding was detected.
General surgeon Dr. Gata Gonçalves said that surgical interventions, regardless of the level of complexity, must be performed by teams composed of two surgeons in according with the recommendations of the Medical Council.
The judgement will be delivered on July 10th.
