A young father of a four-year-old boy died in Santiago de Cuba, allegedly due to medical negligence at the Ambrosio Grillo hospital.
"Something appeared on his nose that developed into cellulitis. It seems he walked around and picked up a bacteria. He was taken to the doctor because he was in a lot of pain, and you know how medical care is in Cuba; they didn't give him the right medication. They were managing it with pills, but it wasn't what he needed," a family member recounted in an audio message to journalist Yosmany Mayeta.
“They said there were no medications, and then when his condition worsened, they said the medication was indeed there. What actually happened was due to the negligence of the doctors; that's why he died, because they were administering the wrong medication,” the source added.
The victim, 34 years old and identified as Yasser Sánchez, lived in the neighborhood of Los Pinos, where his neighbors have expressed their shock over his death.
Yosmany Mayeta urged the authorities in Santiago to enter the Ambrosio Grillo hospital and find out what is happening there, as this is not the first case reported in recent weeks under the suspicion of medical negligence.
“The Ambrosio Grillo hospital in Santiago de Cuba has reported the deaths of young people for several weeks, and relatives have alleged that it is allegedly due to ‘medical negligence,’” the reporter pointed out.
"It cannot be that they hide medications, medical supplies, and any medical assistance tools while allowing young people from Santiago to die from treatable conditions," he added.
The journalist urged the authorities to urgently enter that hospital and put an end once and for all to "the massacre they are committing."
Mayeta Labrada added that this should be a unanimous call echoed by all the families of those who died due to alleged medical negligence at that hospital.
At the end of May, a young Cuban just 19 years old died after being diagnosed with peritonitis, which was initially mistaken for dengue, according to a statement from his family to the same journalist.
In that case, the young man who passed away, named Vladimir Hechabarría, was waked at his home, where he was bid farewell by dozens of people who accompanied his casket to the cemetery.
In recent years, reports of medical negligence in Cuba have surged—many of which have had tragic outcomes—set against a backdrop of severe shortages of supplies and a continuous exodus of healthcare professionals, both to other countries and to more profitable sectors within the nation.
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