The parents and relatives of 10 year old Stavros Giorgallis who died of severe head wounds hours after he was discharged from Larnaca General Hospital in May 2018, have expressed their anger and disappointment at an 18 month prison sentence with a three year suspension handed down to 41 year old doctor Iraklis Pantelidakis by the Larnaca District Court, for negligence that caused the boy’s death.
‘You should be ashamed of yourself, there’s divine retribution’, the mother cried out to the doctor following the conclusion of the trial, to which he responded, hanging his head, ‘I am sorry’.
‘You can’t imagine what my husband and I go through every day’, she said.
The 10 year old pupil was rushed to the Larnaca General Hospital on May 11 2018, after falling on a basketball court at his school in Alethriko and hitting his head.
Dr.Pantelidakis, working in the ER at the time, discharged the boy, who died a few hours later from severe cranial injuries during surgery at the Nicosia General.
The court ruled that the doctor only spared a few seconds to view the boy’s X-ray, therefore missing a head fracture, a dangerous act of negligence.
But they did reduce the sentence, considering his first time offence, family and personal circumstances, the repercussions of the incident on his career and the fact that he suffered depression as well as professional humiliation.
Jusge Dona Constandinou also particularly referred to conditions at the Larnaca General Hospital ER and specifically the practice that radiologists did not provide an opinion on X-rays but doctors view them themselves.
She did however point out that this bad practice does not take away from the doctor’s criminal responsibility.
The argument of the defendant’s attorney that the health minister at the time was not also indicted, was rejected by the court.
The doctor will be appealing the decision.
