The agonising legal battle for a brave young doctor who called out what she believed were serious medical malpractices at Faro Hospital has cleared one of the most unpleasant hurdles.
Judges at Faro Civil Court have ruled that she was not guilty of defamation when she filed her complaints over 11 cases of alleged malpractice and negligence against the director of surgery and her mentor of the time.
The complaints – filed with PJ Judicial Police in 2023 – remain under investigation by the Évora Department of Investigation and Criminal Action, albeit an inquiry by IGAS – the general inspectorate of health activities – found “solid signs of violation of leges artis (the Latin for an intervention being performed in the correct way) in a number of the cases cited in Dr Pereira’s complaint.
This story caused an enormous ‘stir’ when it broke – not least because among the 11 situations cited by Dr Pereira, three of the patients died, two were interned in intermediate care, and the rest suffered body lesions associated with medical error, including “accidental castration”, the “loss of a kidney” and the “necessity of a colostomy bag for the rest of life”.
Dr Pereira’s decision to ‘complain’ appeared to open a Pandora’s Box of similar stories of complaint. There even came an editorial written by a Professor Emeritus at the University of the Algarve in which he admitted to ‘praying’ that he would not require surgery when visiting the Algarve. Indeed, Dr José Pontes wrote in 2023 that “the true extent of the problem goes far beyond Diana Pereira’s denunciation and can never be accurately evaluated given that there is no honest and effective auditing of the services (…)
“The present situation at Faro Hospital could have been sorted out months ago if political guardianship was free of promiscuity in the nominations of administrators. Both the Minister of Health and the Executive Director of the SNS were alerted several times to serious problems that compromise the health of the Algarve’s population, but chose to do nothing.
“The Faculty of Medicine of the University of the Algarve was forced to suspend the placement of students in internships at Faro Hospital because it recognised the lack of minimum quality standards in various services.
“I have no illusions that most decisions taken by politicians give top priority to their personal interests followed by the interests of the party. The interests of citizens count, to a small extent, only during the short period of elections. Unfortunately, the serious problems at Faro Hospital are not unique to the country. There is no culture of patient safety in Portugal with systems in place like, for example, in the civil aviation industry. It will take generations to progress in this direction”.
Faro Hospital for its part appeared not to accept the IGAS findings (published last year) and insisted that it would be “using “legal mechanisms to restore the good name of the hospital and its professionals”.
The defamation case was lodged by the hospital’s Director of Surgery who claimed that Diana Pereira’s complaints had damaged his reputation and good name.
Speaking for his client during the final arguments in October, Dr Pereira’s lawyer Francisco Teixeira de Mota stressed that “people who challenge established systems and go against vested interests are inevitably sacrificed.”
Dr Pereira has suffered enormous pressures since making her claims in 2023. She told the court that all she ever wanted was for Faro Hospital to function well and for people living in the Algarve “not to be afraid to go there”.
An article in Público on the judges’ ruling mentions that the panel found Dr Pereira ‘acted in the public interest’ – and was well within her rights to do so. Comments over social media on Público’s story show people are ‘delighted’ not only that justice has cut to the chase in this long-running story, but that ‘bravery to speak out’ has not been crushed.
Source: Correio da Manhã/ Público
