Armenian Plastic Surgeon Faces 6 Years in Prison

An Armenian citizen and plastic surgeon, Gevorg Stepanyan, a father of three young children, has been incarcerated in the Butirskaya prison for three months following an unsuccessful rhinoplasty performed at a private clinic in Moscow. This information is reported by Hraparak.am.

As a result of decisions made by the Moscow Basmanny Court, he finds himself in the role of a scapegoat. A criminal case has been initiated against Gevorg, as well as two other doctors, under the charge of causing harm to the health of Karolina Sargsyan, a patient who underwent nasal surgery at the Moscow private clinic.

Dana Shmitova, a family member and advocate for Gevorg's interests, expressed her firm belief to the media that Gevorg is innocent and that the medical error was made by the clinic's chief physician, Gulnara Shakh, and anesthesiologist Khitrov.

“Gevorg successfully operated on Karolina on November 12, but the clinic engaged in self-treatment, failed to adhere to protocols, and for some reason, the anesthesiologist and the head of the medical facility, Gulnara Shakh, administered phenazepam to the girl (the operated patient Karolina Sargsyan), perhaps in order to keep her in the clinic and continue treatment for monetary gain. Given that the girl had a very low weight, the 2-milligram dosage of phenazepam amounted to a ‘horse dose’, which should not have been done. The girl felt very weak the next day, yet the hospital discharged her regardless,” she explained.

Karolina was transferred to the intensive care unit of another Moscow clinic on the evening of November 15, three days after the surgery, suffering from Quincke's edema (an allergic reaction to medications), where, thankfully, her life was saved. This has been reported by both Armenian and Russian media. Gevorg's advocate insists that it was not possible for her to experience an allergic reaction almost four days post-surgery.

The Armenian citizen and ethnic Armenian doctor faces a potential six-year prison sentence. The charge against him is aggravated by the allegation that he did not possess a medical license at the time of the operation. However, Dana Shmitova clarifies: “He had one; it had expired at the time of the surgery, and the clinic's management had not informed him about it.”

“Stepanyan had a valid surgical license, and the clinic he had a contract with also held the license to perform such surgeries, but it turns out that Ms. Shakh’s medical institution's license was revoked in May or June, and she failed to inform him and any of her employees about this. All workers were employed under contracts, unaware of the license's cancellation. Thus, Gevorg was simply a hired employee of that clinic,” explained the lawyer.

To be continued on the original source website.