Private hospitals in Lebanon will stop admitting patients for the next few days in protest over the verdict issued in the case of the child Ella Tannous who lost her extremities to medical malpractice back in 2015.
Last week, the Misdemeanor Appeals Court in Beirut ordered the American University of Beirut Medical Center, the Notre Dame de Secours (Al-Maounat) Hospital, and doctors Issam M. and Rana S., to pay in 9 billion Lebanese pounds in damages to Ella Tannous, in addition to a monthly income for life at four times the minimum wage.
In the verdict, the court also ordered the aforementioned convicts to pay 500 million Lebanese pounds in damages to Ella’s father, and 500 million pounds to her mother.
On Sunday, the Order of Physicians in Lebanon rejected the verdict and declared a week-long strike that excluded only cases of emergency, calling for a protest outside the Ministry of Justice to demand the undoing of the ruling.
The Syndicate of Hospitals announced the move in a statement on Monday. The decision is in effect and will remain so until Saturday, May 15th.
All departments of private hospitals are included in the decision, the only exceptions being emergency cases, dialysis patients, and chemotherapy patients.
