Health Ministry officials on Monday ordered the surgical unit of Jerusalem’s Misgav Ladach Hospital closed until further notice following a report by the hospital’s director, Professor Yehuda Adler, citing testimony which points to gross medical malpractice that endangers lives. The report apparently pertains to anesthesiology practices in the operating room.

The hospital has three operating rooms and it is operated by one of the nation’s HMOs, Kupat Cholim Meuchedet.

The ministry’s Prof. Yehuda Glick, who heads the ministry’s ombudsman’s office, has undertaken responsibility for the hospital’s anesthesiology department in the hope of investigating the legitimacy and seriousness of the allegations.

According to the report filed by Prof. Adler, there is undisputable evidence citing malpractice against Dr. David Frankel, an anesthesiologist. Prof. Adler reports that Dr. Frankel has left patients under anesthesia for periods of time during surgery, at times up to 30 minutes, without an anesthesiologist present. He also alleges that he administers a general anesthesia and then leaves the patient to anesthetize another patient in another operating room. “At the very same time, he is supposed to be the anesthesiologist in the recovery room – at the exact time,” stated Prof. Adler.

The daily Haaretz reports the Dr. Frankel refused comment on the report.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)