Health Directorate to reprimand hospital staff who filmed patient in emergency room

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The General Directorate of Health (GDH) in Erbil on Tuesday announced they would penalize the “careless” individuals who recorded a dangerous operation on an unconscious patient, the video of which has now gone viral on Kurdish social media. 

The Directorate’s statement came out hours after the video-post generated outrage online. Hospital staff, nurses, and medical interns at the Rojhilat Emergency Hospital in Erbil filmed themselves and each other during a surgical operation where a doctor uses a high-powdered circular saw to remove a half-meter-long iron rod from a man’s leg.

Many online expressed their anger and disapproval over the disregard for the patient’s privacy, as well as treating him with indignity, and called for the staff members to be reprimanded.

The Directorate stated that after seeing pictures and the video of a surgical operation in the emergency room being leaked, they immediately launched an investigation into the incident.

Before removing the iron rod and in order to minimize damage to the leg of the patient, the surgeons needed a power tool to cut the rod, the GDH statement explained.

“However, there was carelessness during the operation with regards to not upholding the privacy of the patient and posting the video,” the statement added. They also pointed out that the patient’s condition is currently stable.

“We have decided to heavily punish the people who were careless, who may be served with a ‘suspension, transfer to another establishment, and legal and administrative punishments,’” the statement concluded.

Editing by Nadia Riva