Urgent: Young Man Loses Voice After Nose Surgery at Izmirlian Medical Center

For already 45 days, Garnik Khachatryan's voice has been cut off and has not recovered. After nasal septum surgery at the Izmirlian Medical Center in Yerevan, the young man's vocal cords were damaged. The story began on the day Garnik went to a familiar doctor, ENT specialist Anahit Antonyan, due to swollen tonsils caused by a cold. However, since the patient also had a deviated septum, it was decided to first address that issue. The surgery on the young man's nasal septum was performed on October 9. This was reported by Armtimes.com.

On the first day, "I woke up from the anesthesia and realized that I couldn’t talk. At first, I couldn’t say any words at all, but then, over the days, I started speaking in a whisper. (Garnik shared his experience with difficulty, whispering, sometimes coughing, and catching his breath—ed.). My doctor looked at me and said, ‘It’s normal, it happens after surgery, it will pass in 2-3 days,’ but it didn’t pass," Garnik Khachatryan recounted.

The young man returned to the center three days later and received the same response: recovery would come in a couple of days. Days later, during an examination, Garnik said he felt something alarming when doctors whispered among themselves. "I felt fear inside the department head's office; I understood that it was serious, but they didn’t tell me anything," he noted, mentioning that afterward he was prescribed a series of medications.

A Small Hell
Ten days after surgery, the hospital indicated that the patient might have a tumor, and a series of tests were necessary. Garnik described it as a small hell. Following 3-4 days of examinations, the rumor was disproven, and they sent him for treatment to another center in Yerevan, ‘Modern Implant Medicine,’ which specializes in such issues.

The epicrisis provided by Izmirlian Medical Center stated that “post-operatively, the patient complained of the absence of voice. A fibrolaryngoscopy was performed, revealing partial paresis of the left vocal cord. The patient was also examined by a neurologist and prescribed conservative treatment. Significant positive dynamics were observed after receiving this treatment. The mobility of the left vocal cord recovered. The patient is speaking, his voice is slightly hoarse.” However, in Garnik's opinion, this information is nonsense; he was not examined by a neurologist, the mobility of his vocal cords has not recovered, and to say that his voice is merely slightly hoarse is laughable.

No Change in Situation
Currently, Garnik Khachatryan is receiving treatment at the mentioned second center, but according to him, there is no progress; his voice has hardly increased. The young man has also visited Yerevan's ‘Astghik’ Medical Center to seek advice from another specialist. Avetik Minasyan from the center pointed out that he sees no difference in the investigations and recommended continuing treatment abroad. The patient has decided to go to Germany. He also learned that this problem can be resolved within the first 1-2 months; if delayed, he might not recover.

“During this time, my connection with Izmirlian has been severed; I didn’t call them, and none of them asked if I had recovered or not,” Garnik mentioned, adding that he recently met with the center's director, Armen Charchyan, to discuss compensation. In response, the director stated that the center does not see any option for compensation for treatment abroad. The surgeon who operated on him also added, “Last year, when I operated on your father, not once did I see you write on Facebook thanking Antonyan for such surgery, and now you’re saying that we’ve damaged your voice.”

The Young Man Will Appeal to the Court
“I have never had a voice problem; I went for surgery, woke up from anesthesia, and couldn’t talk,” said Garnik, adding that he plans to appeal to the court. Of course, treatment is the priority now. As he explained, Izmirlian center has not offered any compensation. Moreover, during this time, he has undergone examinations for which he has paid. “I have bought about 200,000 drams worth of medications; I spend about 20,000 each week,” Khachatryan noted, adding that the surgery and today’s treatment costs have been covered by the insurance company, while he purchased the medications with his own means.

Not Due to Negligence, but a Statistical Complication
“This is not anyone's fault, it’s not a mistake, it’s not a result of inaction, it’s a statistical complication,” explained the director of Izmirlian Medical Center, Armen Charchyan, in an interview with us. According to him, this issue could arise in various clinics around the world—here, London, or Paris. He noted that the complication arose during the surgical anesthesia, but he insisted the issue is situational; such a thing can happen, and it is possible that the cause lies in the patient's vocal cord structure. He clarified that it is a recoverable complication and that this issue will be resolved within 3-6 months.

Charchyan, discussing his meeting with Garnik, mentioned that in his view, the young man simply wishes to take advantage of the opportunity. He remarked that the young man wanted to gain money from the situation. “That’s extortion, to obtain money by blackmail,” Charchyan said, adding that if there were to be monetary compensation, there should be a commission-based investigation. The commission should ascertain whether the situation was created by the doctor’s fault, because otherwise, no one will be held accountable. Khachatryan was warned of all possible complications prior to the surgery, and if it turns out that the mistake is on the doctor’s side, then the case should go to court, and the amount of compensation should be determined.

Charchyan asserted that the same treatment principles apply here as they do in Germany. There is a 90-95% probability that the voice will recover. True, there is a 3-4% chance that it remains hoarse, but if the problem is to that extent, then they won’t be able to treat it abroad either. The director refuted claims that the hospital has not inquired about Garnik’s health. The operating surgeon has regularly contacted ‘Modern Implant Medicine.’ They also personally contacted the insurance service to ensure that they cover Garnik's treatment expenses. Although the young man paid for several examinations, according to the director, these were not included in the insurance package and did not amount to a large sum. Charchyan stated that they have checked and learned that the victim’s condition is, indeed, recovering very slowly.

The director emphasized once again that such problems can happen in all clinics. It is unclear, but one in 10,000 to 20,000 cases may experience something like this.