Sawsan Al-Abtah wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat:
The death of the singer’s son, George Wassouf, as a result of health complications that followed his surgery in Beirut, renewed questions regarding the reality of the medical sector in Lebanon following the economic crises, which leads to a differentiation between the capabilities of the medical sector and the patients’ abilities to pay the costs of the health bill, which are two separate matters, amid the exclusion of Those concerned accepted the “medical error” hypothesis, according to what doctors and officials say. Despite the shock that swept Beirut following the news of the death of Wadih Wassouf, the son of the Syrian singer George Wassouf, in Beirut, the Wassouf family did not mention a medical error that claimed the life of their deceased due to severe complications, following a sleeve gastrectomy in Beirut.
The former Minister of Health and a specialist in gastrointestinal surgery at the American University of Beirut, Dr. Muhammad Jawad Khalifa, confirms that “the sleeve gastrectomy that Wadih Wassouf underwent has its complications and risks,” explaining to “Al-Sharq Al-Awsat” that “these complications are diverse, including bleeding.” Gastric perforation, bowel obstruction, and arterial thrombosis are seen in Lebanon, as well as in America, Germany, and every country in the world. It is something we explain to the patient and his family, and anyone can see her lineage in a small search on the Internet. It is often treated.
Khalifa, a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, adds that “hospitals in Lebanon, despite the crisis, still have the best equipment in the region and efficient medical teams, but the biggest problem is not in the hospitals, but in the patients’ inability to pay the treatment costs, which is not the case of Wadih and Will.” Who all of Lebanon feels shocked by his death while he is in the prime of his youth,” stressing that talking regarding the hypothesis of a medical error, “cannot be satisfied without a legitimate investigation by the Doctors Syndicate and medical committees.”
During the past two years, Lebanon has suffered from a crisis of emigration of doctors and nurses due to the decline in financial returns for workers inside the country due to the economic and financial crisis, which caused a logistical crisis in some hospitals, but this matter was not reflected in the level of competencies and medical staff that are still present in the country. It was not reflected in the nature of medical equipment, in addition to the cost of treatment and obtaining an ideal medical service, which is no longer possible for many Lebanese who have lost a large part of their purchasing power due to the decline in the local currency once morest the dollar, while the guarantor government agencies (Ministry of Health) can no longer The National Social Security Fund) will cover treatment expenses.
The head of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals in Lebanon, Dr. Suleiman Haroun, does not see a reason to link the emigration of doctors and nurses from Lebanon due to the crisis, and the death of Wadih Wassouf, stressing to Asharq Al-Awsat that “this is a logistical problem that should not be given more than its size, and it cannot be a direct cause of death.” Patient”.
“This type of operation has many complications, but it rarely causes deaths,” Haroun asserts, explaining that doctors usually inform the patient of possible complications before performing the operation.
The news of Wadih Wassouf’s death shocked the Lebanese, especially since many of the common operations that are now being performed to improve people’s lives, whether to lose weight or in terms of aesthetics, are carried out without much concern, but the death incident of the artist’s son, George Wassouf, alerted that any operation remains with its complications, no matter what. Minor, and sometimes its greatest danger, with or without mistakes. A member of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Representative Fadi Alama, rejects the hypothesis of asserting a medical error, and says that he has no knowledge of the details of the operation that was performed on Wadih Wassouf, but he considers that “medical errors are something that happens everywhere, and in the best countries as well as in the worst of them; That is why I do not want to link the death of Wadih George Wassouf to the health situation, which we know suffers from a shortage of doctors and insurance for expenses, but it is still steadfast despite the crises.
Doctors stress the need not to deal with the sensitive issue of medical errors with negligence, negligence, and prejudices. Khalifa says, “There is no doctor or medical staff who does not want to provide the best service to his patients,” adding, “It is very difficult to talk regarding Wadih George Wassouf’s condition without knowing it. Each case is different from the other, and each body has its own details and circumstances. It is the privacy of the patient that usually determines the results of the operation, ”explaining that“ there are those who suffer from blood clotting, or cirrhosis of the liver, and there is no other similar case. This is why speaking in general terms carries risks and entails responsibilities, and no one can determine or know what happened without a professional investigation.
Thousands of gastric sleeve operations, and others similar to them, are performed in Lebanon, and each operation has its own circumstances, just as each patient has his own condition. Khalifa says: “Throwing accusations haphazardly, unscientific talk. This is held accountable by law in self-respecting countries, when it is proven incorrect. Any investigation requires a review of all stages and examinations that the patient went through.
