A Group of Health Workers Write Open Letter to Nikol Pashinyan and Arsen Torosyan

A group of health workers from the "Republican Institute of Reproductive Health, Perinatology, Obstetrics and Gynecology" LLC has written an open letter to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Health Minister Arsen Torosyan, and law enforcement agencies. We present the letter in full:

“Dear Prime Minister, Representatives of the State Authority of the Republic of Armenia,
We, a group of health workers from the "Republican Institute of Reproductive Health, Perinatology, Obstetrics and Gynecology" LLC, are addressing you with this open letter after waiting for a long time and seeing our reputation undermined. Besides addressing you, we deem it necessary to inform our fellow citizens about the issues and facts that we consider essential to voice.

The unfortunate incident that occurred on September 24, 2019, concerning Haikuhy Khachatryan's fetal intrauterine death and delivery of a deceased fetus, has become the subject of numerous discussions, slanders, and insults, for which we all mourn. Through the internet and the press, it was misrepresented by Haikuhy Khachatryan, her relatives, sponsors, and various fake accounts that Haikuhy had given birth to a healthy child and that the baby had been sold abroad by doctor Rouzana Kheyan. These pieces of information have no correlation with reality, as the doctor did not even travel abroad and attended a subsequent conference long after the incident.

The false information was verified and refuted by investigators and police officers, yet the campaign to discredit experienced doctors and the institute continues. Haikuhy Khachatryan, in an attempt to discredit us, deliberately remains silent about having had two healthy children at the same maternity home, where many of her relatives have also given birth, and no one could have taken and sold her child.

This false propaganda was initially refuted by journalistic investigations conducted by various media outlets involving Rouzana Kheyan, hospital staff, and lawyers, yet various slanders and unwarranted accusations about the sale of the child continued thereafter.

While fulfilling our medical duties, we patiently awaited the investigators' efforts to uncover and voice the truth regarding the preliminary investigation. Haikuhy Khachatryan remains silent about the fact that at her request, doctor R. Kheyan conducted her pregnancy under the obstetric standards and requirements developed by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, which proceeded without complications. Haikuhy Khachatryan also again remains silent about having declined a number of necessary tests prescribed by the physician that could have had significant implications for delivery later on.

It is unfortunate, but it is a fact acknowledged by all of us that hours after entering the institute, upon learning that there were no fetal heartbeats under the control of a midwife, appropriate measures were taken. Doctor R. Kheyan was informed of this, and shortly thereafter, Haikuhy Khachatryan underwent an ultrasound examination performed by doctor Naira Hambardzumyan. The latter explained to Haikuhy and showed on the screen the absence of fetal heartbeats, indicating fetal intrauterine death.

With the re-examination of this study, the fetal intrauterine death was confirmed again, of which Haikuhy informed her husband and relatives. Consequently, around 18:00, Haikuhy Khachatryan's husband broke the glass of the delivery room door in the presence of medical staff and attacked doctor R. Kheyan, which was witnessed by the police. Ignoring this act, we assisted Haikuhy in independently delivering the deceased fetus in accordance with medical standards, and again, we informed the relatives waiting by the door.

Later, Haikuhy personally communicated in a complaint addressed to the administration of the institute regarding her being informed of the fetal intrauterine death confirmed by the ultrasound examination.

We have long shared in Haikuhy Khachatryan and her relatives' grief, patiently waiting for a response from the investigative authorities regarding the forensic examination to clarify the cause of the intrauterine death, which results remain unknown to us.

We are ready to bear our responsibility, but we urge interested parties to cease the defamation of the internationally recognized institute and its medical staff, which causes unfounded concerns among expectant mothers and maternity patients, disregarding our decades-long good reputation and practice.

We also wish to state that the defamation of the institute continues by Haikuhy Khachatryan, as well as by dozens of women who abandoned their children years ago. Razmik Abrahamyan has had no involvement in Haikuhy Khachatryan's pregnancy and delivery. We hope that it will eventually become clear whose instructions and for what purpose the institute is being discredited.

This false agenda not only disrupts and defames the good reputation of the "Republican Institute of Reproductive Health, Perinatology, Obstetrics and Gynecology" LLC at international and national levels but also undermines the professional and personal reputations of Academician R. Abrahamyan, other doctors, and health workers. These individuals are playing with the delicate feelings of many mothers, forcing them to relive personal tragedies.

In conclusion, we hope that you will take measures to reveal the truth as soon as possible, inform the public about the cause of the fetal intrauterine death, and hold accountable those who make false accusations.

The undersigned health workers were present at the delivery and examination of the deceased fetus.”