Dead publisher’s wife to sue clinic

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Polyclinique Mekong, in Chamkarmon district, has been accused of misdiagnosing and mistreating a newspaper publisher who died there last week.

via CAAI News Media

Friday, 23 April 2010 15:01 Tep Nimol and Chhay Channyda

THE wife of a newspaper publisher who died at a private clinic last week after seeking treatment for a headache said Thursday that she plans to file a malpractice complaint against the clinic’s owners.

Kem Srey said her 51-year-old husband, Pring Chamroeun, the publisher of the irregularly released Ponleu Makara newspaper, died at the Polyclinique Mekong in Phnom Penh’s Chamkarmon district on April 14, and accused doctors there of misdiagnosing him and treating him with “the wrong medicine”.

She said that doctors told Pring Chamroeun he had a “serious condition” after he arrived at the clinic complaining of a headache and soreness in his neck.

“The clinic also injected and scanned my husband’s body,” she said. “After that, he twisted his body in a struggling manner, and blood flowed from his mouth and nose. Then he was transferred again to an emergency unit, but they could not save his life.”

Kem Srey said the clinic’s staff had only wanted to collect payment and did not care about the welfare of her husband. She said she had spent about US$700 in medical bills before her husband died.

“I never denied paying them. I have enough money to pay,” she said.

Polyclinique Mekong staff members could not be reached for comment.

She said she planned to file a complaint against the clinic with Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Sok Sokun, director of the municipal Health Department, said officials had not determined whether the clinic had committed malpractice.

“We need to investigate. We do not know yet if we will close the clinic,” he said.