Inspectorate to file a complaint with the disciplinary board against Dr. Mercelina, Dr. Wassenaar, while Radiologist to be fully investigated --- Time for SMMC Director Klarenbeek to come clean --- No More Lies.
PHILIPSBURG: --- After SMN News published the article on October 20th 2016 that states that Dr. Mercelina performed a surgery on a patient by placing a port – a cath for chemotherapy which was mal-positioned causing extensive pain and suffering to a patient that had to be flown to Curacao for further medical treatment, the inspector general of VSA conducted an investigation that shows the following:-
It must be noted that Dr. Luc Mercelina did not conduct the surgery to insert the port a- cath but instead he inserted a drain to remove fluid from the cavity surrounding the lungs. This could have been verified the same day the article was published had Dr. Luc Mercelina kept his word to send SMN News a written statement. The port a cath was inserted by Dr. Felix Holiday. Dr. Mercelina and Dr. Wassenaar were the treating physicians who treated the patient each time she went back to the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) with severe complications sometimes the same day after receiving chemotherapy treatment or a day later, yet Dr. Mercelina did not see it fit to either conduct further testing or to send the patient abroad earlier in order for her to get proper medical treatment.
The patient visited SMMC (ER) at least three times and twice she was seen by Dr. Mercelina and each time sent back home even though in severe pain. It should be noted that each time the patient went to the ER, it’s the same day or the day after each chemotherapy treatment was administered. However, on the third visit to the ER on September 2nd Dr. Mercelina decided to admit the patient and instead of investigating deeper to find the cause of the grave symptoms or sending the patient abroad to a better or fully equipped hospital with certified medical doctors he kept her until September 15th. This delay caused the patient to suffer immensely and she could have lost her life at SMMC due to gross negligence. The patient was treated and recovered in Curacao and is now doing her radiation therapy in the Dominican Republic.
What is very lamentable to say the least is that the Director of SMMC Kees Klarenbeek chose to send out a press release denying such a case existed and even went as far as filing a report with the police against SMN News for defamation and slander. What Klarenbeek did not know is that after the article was published Dr. Luc Mercelina was willing to speak to SMN News since he called SMN News reporter after the article was published and wanted to set the records straight. Dr. Mercelina did not deny such a case existed but said he was not the one that conducted the surgery, SMN News asked Dr. Luc Mercelina to put his statements in writing which he never did even though he promised to do so that same day. Dr. Mercelina even took SMN News email address but instead of maintaining what he said he would do he cooperated with Klarenbeek to feed the media and the police a lie.
SMN News requested the report through a LOB request which is not only damning for St. Maarten and its people more so SMMC but it also shows that SMMC did not respect the conditions laid down by the Inspectorate since March 2016 where they must report cases of calamity to the Inspectorate.
First and foremost, it shows that Kees Klareenbeek is a blatant liar that he not only sent out a false press release but even denied such a case existed when confronted. It is clear that the two treating physicians namely Dr. Mercelina and Dr. Waasenaar were negligent and even the treating staff at SMMC since no proper records were kept or found in the patient’s file. Further to that the CT scans that were performed at SMMC were not properly read, thus leading to an investigation against the radiologist. A situation such as this now brings to question how the screening and vetting of doctors and or specialists are being conducted by SMMC and the department of public health.
While the patient was at SMMC the hospital conducted two CT scans and both of them showed that the port a cath was mal-positioned but the radiologist for some reason missed such an important factor which led to the patient having a near death experience. With all of the symptoms, it was more than sufficient for the two treating physicians to look beyond what they see on the CT scans and to transfer the patient overseas where there are better equipment and more qualified doctors, but that was not done in a timely manner.
SMN News wants to bring clarity, at no time do we publish false information, indeed the relatives who spoke to SMN News said the port a cath was inserted by Dr. Luc Mercelina when in fact it was done by Dr. Holiday. Dr. Mercelina could have had a correction the same day after the article was published had he maintained his word. The article written by SMN News sparked an investigation which showed that a patient was indeed operated at SMMC (insertion of a port-a-cath and a drain) and the patient received chemotherapy treatment at SMMC and she also received follow-up treatment for severe complications at SMMC. It is clear that Dr. Mercelina and Dr. Wassenaar did not act swiftly and took the right decision in a timely manner based on the severe and abnormal symptoms the patient was having, thus causing the inspectorate to file a complaint against these doctors with the disciplinary medical board due to the negligence and the fact that SMMC lied about the case.
One now has to ask themselves if there were more cases of this nature that the director of SMMC claimed not to know about or is he just a pathological and blatant liar. A question Kees Klarenbeek would have to answer sooner than later.
Click here to view the report from Inspectorate of VSA on the Port -a Cath case.
