Băsescu feels “revolt like any Romanian” after the case of the little girl who died in the dental clinic. The former president criticizes the proposal made by the minister with the “creative momentum after misfortune”
Traian Băsescu Photo: Inquam Photos – Elena Covalenco
Former president Traian Băsescu declared, on Sunday, on Digi24, that the case of the 2-year-old girl who died on Thursday in a dental clinic in the capital is “absolutely terrible”. At the same time, the former head of state criticized the proposal of the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, to have dental interventions that require general anesthesia be performed in public hospitals.
Thursday's incident was “unfortunate, terrible,” the former president said.
“On the other hand, without knowing and getting into the technical conditions, what the doctor had to do, what the nurse had to do, I'm not going to get into something like that, but there are such incidents when it comes to total anesthesia. From my experience, I've been through several total anesthesias, during operations, and extremely meticulous measures are taken before such anesthesia is performed,” said Traian Băsescu.
“This state is not to blame for everything”
Băsescu believes that in this case it is about the “responsibility of some medical staff”, not the state.
“Usually, we run away from the state's responsibility one or two times, but here we are talking about the responsibility of some medical personnel, who were not allowed to intervene in a space and with tools that were not authorized. In the end, we will end up saying that the state is to blame if a mountainside collapses. This state is not to blame for everything. Should we put the state behind the doctors, behind the nurses? What should we do, bring a policeman when they do intervention? No, it's a matter of professional responsibility,” the former president continued.
Criticism of the Health Minister's proposal
Traian Băsescu criticized Alexandru Rogobete's statement regarding the fact that he is considering regulating the possibility that dental interventions that require general anesthesia be done in public hospitals.
“I heard Rogobete that he is thinking with the creative momentum after the misfortune to bring this type of intervention to hospitals. Mr. Minister, I inform you that dentistry has been privatized for a long time, you no longer have dental departments in hospitals, and those who perform operations of such difficulty must be authorized, in private clinics, those who perform such operations must be authorized,” Băsescu added.
He said he felt “revolt” after Thursday's tragedy.
“I also feel the revolt and I think that every Romanian feels it, but I can't help but remember that in Iași, in the state hospital, three weeks ago, six children died of nosocomial infections, so Mr. Rogobete, maybe you can tell us about both, no, here, you have found refuge in the private sector. Let them be held accountable if they did not respect the protocols, but don't forget the six children from Iași! All the souls innocents, you feel like crying when you think that six souls, six newborn babies, could no longer have life because the children's ward was not disinfected properly. Here we are. Apart from pain, I have nothing to express,” said Traian Băsescu.
