Widow of plastic trachea surgery patient to sue Icelandic state over denied compensation claim
The attorney for a widow whose husband died after receiving plastic trachea surgery over a decade ago is planning to take the case to court. This comes after Iceland’s Attorney General dismissed the payment of criminal and damages compensation, a decision that hospital administrators disagreed with. The patient, Andemariam Beyene, underwent the first-ever plastic trachea surgery performed by Italian surgeon Paolo Macchiarini at the Karolinska Hospital in Sweden in 2011. Beyene passed away in early 2014, and Macchiarini was convicted for his actions the previous summer.
At the end of last year, the director of the hospital apologized for the hospital’s role in the case and asked the Attorney General to negotiate possible compensation with Merhawit Tesfaslase, the deceased’s widow. The Attorney General has now rejected the state’s obligation to pay.
Tesfaslase’s lawyer, Sigurdur G. Gudjonsson, expressed deep disappointment at the decision. He maintains that the causal link is clear and the only uncertainty is the potential damage. He plans to take the case forward against the Icelandic state.
Meanwhile, the hospital believes it is right to compensate. The hospital’s defenders did not want to give an interview but referred to the previous comments of the director, Runolfur Palsson. The hospital also referred to an opinion received from the Attorney General. Sigurdur had hoped for a compensation settlement for the widow without legal proceedings.
As for the responsibility of Karolinska Hospital, Sigurdur said that the patient was sent to Karolinska by the hospital. He suggests that it would be appropriate for the hospital to discuss with Karolinska whether they would like to participate in compensation payments to the widow.
Gudjonsson confirmed that he would appeal the decision to court, stating that it would be wrong to give up at this point. He said, “We’ve put a lot of work into this case, and it would be better to get a court ruling on whether torture of patients is allowed in Iceland.”