The twin babies died, and the family's claims regarding the hospital are serious.

On August 24, 2021, in Diyarbakır, K.A. gave birth to twin babies at Memorial Diyarbakır Hospital due to premature labor. One of the twins, a boy named E.A.A., who was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit, passed away on October 5 of the same year. E.A.A.'s death was communicated to his family as a natural death.

On October 14, when the father E.A. went to visit his daughter, one of the nurses working there told him that his child's death was not a natural one and that the child died due to the negligence of the nurses, and that this negligence had been documented. Following this, he filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office and granted power of attorney to his lawyer. An autopsy was conducted on October 18 to determine the cause of death, and the case was sent to the Forensic Medicine Units in Adana, Istanbul, and Diyarbakır. The report prepared by the 8th Forensic Medicine Specialization Board was concluded yesterday, stating that it was deemed appropriate for the court to make a decision.

"THE NURSES WERE ASLEEP"

Lawyer Muhammet Tanrıkulu stated that his client’s wife had been trying to get pregnant for years, and finally, after a long time, pregnancy occurred through in vitro fertilization. Tanrıkulu mentioned that after the premature birth on August 24, 2021, both babies were placed in incubators, and while the girl's condition was worse, the boy was more lively. He said, "On October 4, my client was called and informed that 'Your child is currently in crisis, struggling for life.' On October 5, he passed away. My client thought his daughter had died, but later learned it was his son. Since he was informed it was a natural death, they buried him. The girl continued to stay in the hospital. When he went to visit his daughter on October 14, a nurse approached his car and said she wanted to talk to him in private. When my client got out of the car to talk, she informed him, 'Your son did not die a natural death; the nurses were asleep. Your child choked on his vomit and died.' Following this, my client applied to the prosecutor's office, and the next day we took the power of attorney and started to follow the case," he said.

THE GRAVE WAS OPENED

Tanrıkulu expressed that they requested an autopsy, stating: "The grave was opened, and the autopsy was performed on the 18th. Our case was sent to the Forensic Medicine Units in Adana, Istanbul, and Diyarbakır to determine the cause of death. Meanwhile, the responsible nurses and doctors were also called to give statements. Although three nurses and the doctors claimed the death was natural, another nurse stated that she saw two nurses sleeping in the intensive care unit, and when she checked the unit, she found the baby in a state of cyanosis and woke the nurses, but despite the interventions, the baby could not be saved."

2 DOCTORS WERE ALSO INCLUDED IN THE INVESTIGATION

Tanrıkulu stated that the prosecutor's office further advanced the case after this incident, saying, "However, due to a change in a legal provision, it is now necessary to obtain permission from the Ministry of Health for investigations regarding private hospital physicians, so our case first went to the Ministry of Health. Although the Ministry granted permission for an investigation against three nurses, it did not grant permission for the two responsible doctors. Following this, we appealed to the Ankara Regional Administrative Court. The Regional Administrative Court accepted our appeal and included the two responsible doctors in the investigation. Currently, our case has been pending in forensic medicine since May 2024. The nurse who alerted my client later informed him that she had been recording video footage related to the incident for a long time and provided the footage to my client. The footage shows that the nurses were sleeping in the intensive care unit, dancing while filming 'Tiktok', that three babies were placed in a single incubator, that the babies were left in the incubators in a bloody state, and that the saturation levels were lowered from 90 to 70, which delayed alarms to avoid disturbing the nurses, and despite warnings, they continued to sleep," he said.

"THE HOSPITAL IS UNDERSTAFFED BY 18 NURSES"

Tanrıkulu stated that they addressed this issue while making the appeal, saying, "In the announcement published in the Official Gazette on July 20, 2011, regarding intensive care units, it is stated that there should be one nurse for every two incubators. We know that there are 45 incubators in the hospital in our case. In the statements given, it is mentioned that only two nurses were present there. The hospital is understaffed by about 18 nurses. At the same time, it is seen that 2-3 babies are placed in the incubators, exceeding even the number of 45," he said.

Tanrıkulu stated, "After the hospital documents were brought to the prosecutor's file, it was written in the doctors' epicrisis report that our client's baby was already not moving, that it was lifeless, and therefore it was a natural death." However, it has already been proven by the videos we have that our client's deceased baby was active a day before death. Although it was stated that he died after his breath stopped, an X-ray was taken. We also included this X-ray in our file. As far as we understand, the hospital management and doctors have made every effort to conceal such deaths collectively. It was observed in the preliminary autopsy report that abdominal washing was performed after the baby's death, and this will be understood in the forensic report. After all these years, the pain of our client, who has been waiting for his son, who bought a twin stroller for his twin children, and who bought every item twice, has grown exponentially," he expressed.