Inside upscale private hospitals with considerable costs, patients secure not just ease and cutting-edge technology, but a feeling of assurance. Nevertheless, when disaster occurs, families frequently end up in a protracted struggle for impartiality. Three prominent instances of medical misfortunes illustrate how arduous the journey from a patient’s demise to a court judgment can be.
Behind elevated expenses at exclusive clinics usually lies not solely comfort and enhanced therapies, but additionally the patient’s anticipation that their health is entirely secure there. When something irreversible happens, the actual nature of the hospital is tested by its capacity to acknowledge accountability for probable errors. Sadly, often instead of sincerity, kin of the deceased, at one of life’s most agonizing moments, confront the clinic’s endeavor to protect its image. Read the UNN piece concerning whether Ukrainian patients possess genuine safeguard and how private healthcare organizations react to tragedies within their premises.
Private healthcare in Ukraine has evolved into associated with ease and developed innovations in recent decades. When opting for individual healthcare facilities, patients anticipate protection, competence, and superior assistance. Simultaneously, patients willingly consent to sizable payments, since the expense of healthcare provisions is viewed as a justifiable expenditure in well-being and reassurance.
Nevertheless, even in the most advanced hospitals, critical occurrences arise. At such instances, the fundamental examination for a medical center is its capacity to assume responsibility for mistakes, and refrain from concealing behind promotion campaigns. However, not everyone chooses an accountable stance in such occurrences.
Adnan Kivan's death case has evolved into the “Odrex Case”
The passing of Kadorr Group founder Adnan Kivan in October 2024 within the boundaries of the Odessa Odrex clinic became a turning point for the institution’s standing. The founder of the Kadorr Group empire, an individual whose prosperity permitted him to select the finest physicians globally, entrusted his health to Odessa’s Odrex. In effect, it was in this hospital that he obtained care in previous years, it was in this hospital that the businessman’s physician Vitaly Rusakov is employed. To whom, according to journalist Zoya Kazanzhi, Adnan Kivan provided a refurbished residence and a pristine Lexus vehicle for his wedding. However, as verified by the documents of the criminal proceeding, the prominence of a businessman and a consistent patron of the hospital did not evolve into a defense against what the probe labels as medical negligence.
The demise of Adnan Kivan marked the commencement of a notable criminal prosecution that endures to this day. The “stars” of Odrex were in the defendant’s box: the head of the surgical division, Vitaly Rusakov, and oncologist Marina Belotserkivska (who has already departed from the hospital). As per the inquiry, despite Adnan Kivan’s oncological diagnosis, the reason for passing was sepsis. The medical assessment suggests a multitude of probable faults: disregarding inflammation indications, neglecting to prescribe obligatory antibiotic treatment post-surgery, and administering chemotherapy, which at that juncture was explicitly contraindicated for the patient.
While the physicians are under nighttime house arrest, the defense appears to have selected a strategy of attrition. Sessions are interrupted owing to the absence of the doctors’ legal representatives. Simultaneously, Odrex has initiated a comprehensive informational initiative: instead of acknowledging errors and undertaking an internal investigation, the hospital has concentrated on litigation against the media and endeavors to sanitize its image.
However, the societal response was not protracted in arriving: following the instance of Adnan Kivan’s demise becoming more audible, individuals who also lost cherished ones subsequent to treatment at Odrex and those who succeeded in surviving commenced to openly articulate their encounters. Furthermore, the distinguished instance of Adnan Kivan’s demise evolved into the ultimate hope for impartiality for numerous families who have been suing Odrex for years concerning the deaths of their relatives at the hospital.
Against the backdrop of nationwide reverberation, individuals united in the StopOdrex movement, established their personal website (which has previously been obstructed three times due to Odrex grievances) and a Telegram channel. On these platforms, individuals who regard themselves as casualties of treatment at the infamous hospital anonymously recount their individual narratives and the stories of their deceased family members, exchange updates concerning the advancement of their individual criminal proceedings against Odrex and the clinic’s physicians, and bolster one another.
Fatal mistake at Mali clinic: death of 7-year-old boy during dental treatment
In March 2025, a typical visit to the dentist for a Kyiv family culminated in tragedy. The parents brought their 7-year-old son for dental care under general anesthesia, a provision that the hospital promoted as a secure and comfortable “medication sleep” for youngsters.
During the procedure, the boy’s state unexpectedly deteriorated. His heart ceased directly in the dental chair. Resuscitation procedures were initiated in the hospital, and the child was subsequently hospitalized. Physicians diagnosed him with a profound coma. A few days later, the boy passed away in the intensive care unit of the Okhmatdyt hospital, without regaining consciousness.
Law enforcement representatives have initiated a criminal proceeding into the actuality of inappropriate execution of professional responsibilities by a medical worker, which instigated the passing of a child. The anesthesiologist was notified of the suspicion. As per the inquiry, a drug was employed during anesthesia that was contraindicated given the boy’s state of health. This is what law enforcement representatives believe was the reason for acute cardiac arrest.
The Ministry of Health, subsequent to inspecting the healthcare establishment, revoked the license it had issued. As of the present day, the inquiry is ongoing. There has been no official pronouncement concerning the case being alluded to court.
This narrative has once again raised a challenging question: how secure are procedures under general anesthesia in outpatient settings and whether there exists sufficient oversight over their implementation in private hospitals. For parents, this constitutes an irreparable misfortune. For the healthcare framework, it represents an assessment of its capacity to honestly comprehend and answer precisely what transpired incorrectly and who will be accountable for the passing of a 7-year-old boy.
Death of an infant in “Leleka”: a case that ended with the maximum sentence for a medic
The catastrophe that transpired in May 2020 in the elite Kyiv maternity hospital “Leleka” has evolved into one of the most distinguished processes in the domain of private obstetric assistance. The birth of Lidiya Kosogova, who entrusted the expertise of the physicians of this institution throughout her gestation, culminated fatally: her daughter Vira was born with severe detriment to the central nervous arrangement and passed away after 55 days of striving for her health.
As per the inquiry, the reason for the disaster was procrastination. Obstetrician-gynecologist Mykola Kovalenko incorrectly evaluated the fetal heartbeat monitoring (CTG) indicators. When the apparatuses already signaled the critical state of the child, the determination to execute an emergency cesarean section was made excessively tardy. The forensic assessment verified a direct cause-and-effect correlation: it was these forfeited minutes that resulted in irreversible hypoxia of the baby’s brain.
The family of the departed child confronted not solely the agony of bereavement, but additionally the obstacles of the medical framework. Lidiya Kosogova stated that following the tragedy, communication with “Leleka” effectively ceased, and the family’s access to electronic medical documents was restricted.
The institution’s management instead labeled the accusations an “information attack,” insisting that the physicians’ actions were in accordance with protocols.
The trial endured for over two years. Despite the actuality that the accused obstetrician-gynecologist did not concede his culpability, Mykola Kovalenko was sentenced to the maximum penalty under Article (1, Article 140 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – improper execution of professional responsibilities by a medical professional) – three years of confinement. Furthermore, the court mandated the hospital to disburse over UAH 1.1 million in moral compensations to the family.
Instead of a conclusion
Different cities, different clinics, different medical specialties: from complex oncological surgery to dentistry or long-awaited childbirth. But all these stories are united by a tragic plot: death, suspicion of medical negligence, and long years of struggle for justice.
Each case has its own circumstances, but the consequences are all too similar. Instead of a quick and transparent determination of responsibility, there are drawn-out processes, expert examinations, and procedural barriers. Families who have lost loved ones are forced to defend their right to justice for years.
Ultimately, these stories expose a broader problem than the individual mistakes of specific doctors; they raise questions about the entire medical system, especially in terms of protecting patients' rights and the real inevitability of liability for medical negligence.