The public and government officials of Moldova were enraged of a video circulating the news and the Internet of doctors using an electric drill and pliers during surgery.
The said video was said to be recorded from a children’s hospital in Chisinau and is now on YouTube.
The health officials are already investigating the incident as ordered by Prime Minister Iurie Leance. However, Healthcare Minister Andrei Usatii clarified in the local television that doctors are allowed to use such materials if medical equipment are not available. However, the children’s hospital had enough medical equipment in which they were given three new drilling machines.
“The hospital had been given three new drilling machines, I don't understand why they had to use a construction drill," Leance said in an interview with the local television.
Nicolae Starciuc, head physician at the hospital, told the local press that his enemies may have created the video to damage his reputation.
ABC News reported that the Grigore Rusanovschi, a surgeon at the Valentin Ignatenco Hospital in Chisinau who created the video showing him using those materials, explained that the management told him that the equipment was not available when he requested for it.
The investigators were unable to recover the drill that Rusanovschi had used but found the the three drilling machines mentioned by the head physician.
The doctors in Moldova were trained to use such household tools to perform surgery as long as they take extra precautions such as sterilizing the drills and that they are working properly before use. They should also ensure they are setting the right speed during the drill. This practice was also confirmed by Dr. Nikolai Kurka, another surgeon in Moldova, who is one of the 16 surgeons who had received the training.
Moldova workers wage average in only $300 a month. It is also one of the poorest nations in Europe.
