2025 medical cases: therapy denied, wrong organ removed, infant disabled

MSK1.RU continues its year-end review for 2025. Medicine is a key focus for our journalists, who highlight issues like medication shortages, lack of therapy, negligent care, and rare diseases. We revisit several critical cases that impacted people in Moscow and the surrounding region.

Doctors at a federal center removed a healthy organ from a Moscow woman

A horrific incident occurred with 42-year-old Lyubov, a resident of the capital, at the Kulakov Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology, where she was admitted for endometriosis treatment (a disease where the endometrium grows outside the uterus. — Ed.). She had hoped to get an expert opinion on her condition at this clinic.

There, a doctor stated that due to endometriosis, surgery was needed to remove the inflamed left fallopian tube, but in fact, he removed the right one. The doctor did not even suggest hormone therapy as an option.

At the same clinic, Lyubov underwent surgery, after which she immediately felt unwell. At the time, the patient attributed it all to anesthesia. Moreover, according to the surgeon, the procedure «was more extensive than planned.» It turned out that her cesarean section scar was opened, even though the operation was supposed to be laparoscopic (i.e., through small incisions up to 1 centimeter. — Ed.).

For a whole week, the Moscow woman felt poorly. Her condition worsened due to vomiting and insomnia. Additionally, Lyubov ate almost nothing, but her abdomen was bloated. Doctors were in no rush to intervene. An ultrasound technician raised the alarm. After examination, the woman was back on the operating table, not even knowing things were off plan.

Not immediately, but Lyubov learned from a doctor that during the first operation, the right fallopian tube was removed, while the left one, which was diagnosed, was left. In the patient«s opinion, the doctor deliberately delayed the second surgery to support his version of a »left fallopian tube that suddenly healed by the first operation, and then just as suddenly decomposed to pus in seven days.«

Only a complication from the first surgery caused peritonitis—a life-threatening condition resulting from inflammation of the peritoneum due to microbial infection.

The Moscow woman was discharged from the center after 21 days. The treatment cost around 500,000 rubles (approximately $5,000 at current rates). As MSK1.RU«s correspondent found out, neither the doctor nor the center admitted guilt. You can read their comments in our article.

After the removal of both fallopian tubes, Lyubov hoped her ovarian function would recover, but this only led to immediate menopause. The woman cannot have children.

Six months after treatment, the 42-year-old Moscow woman filed a report with the Investigative Committee, but she was denied criminal case initiation.

Doctors in Korolyov, Moscow Region, made an infant disabled

On 24 December 2019, young mother Kristina went to the Korolyov maternity hospital for her long-awaited daughter. The pregnancy was calm, without pathologies, and the birth—exactly on the due date indicated by doctors.

Around 10 a.m., the woman was brought to the maternity hospital, given epidural anesthesia, and connected to a CTG (a device for cardiotocography, assessing the fetus«s condition in the womb. — Ed.). It immediately began recording problems with the fetus. But doctors, according to the mother, paid no attention.

The girl was born around 5 p.m. the same day. But the birth was forceful, the woman believes. She says the midwife used the Kristeller maneuver (pushing the baby out of the womb. — Ed.), which is one of the most aggressive and traumatic methods, dangerous for the child and prohibited in childbirth since 1992.

The newborn was not even placed on the mother«s breast. She was wrapped up and taken by doctors to a special box, where a bunch of wires and tubes were attached to her small body.

Her daughter, as the mother recalls, cried a lot. Feeding the baby was difficult because she vomited from food. Later, the child«s head began to enlarge—her intracranial pressure was rising. But doctors, according to the editorial»s interlocutor, did not pay attention. She was even discharged home, where the problem only worsened.

The veins on the child«s forehead continued to grow; later she was diagnosed with »hydrops« and prescribed medication to remove fluid. No one among the doctors dared to perform an MRI on the little girl. It was impossible to understand what was happening.

Only in February, at the Shchyolkovo Perinatal Center, doctors said the child had hydrocephalus (excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain, leading to increased intracranial pressure and compression of brain tissue. — Ed.). Then, the mother was told to find a neurosurgeon. Precious time was lost. The child suffered from intracranial pressure for four months before she had surgery at Tushino Hospital.

In 2020, Kristina filed a report with the police. A year later, a criminal case was initiated under the article «Negligence.» But it was reclassified to «Causing grievous bodily harm through negligence.» The investigation took a long time, all statutes of limitations expired, so after six years, no one was punished.

Now, six-year-old Sofia will never be able to eat on her own. She will never be able to play in the sandbox with children and will never go to school. The parents quit their jobs to care for the child.

The MSK1.RU editorial board requested a comment from the perinatal center where the baby was born. You can learn their point of view here.

Incurably ill nine-year-old girls cannot receive vital therapy

In the Moscow Region, live nine-year-old twins Dasha and Katya. The schoolgirls have cystic fibrosis (a hereditary disease that disrupts the function of endocrine glands. — Ed.).

Until 2022, the girls took an original drug for therapy that halted disease symptoms. But the medication became scarce and was no longer imported into the country. So, through a court, the Sergiyev Posad hospital switched the children to an analog drug—«Tigeraza.» Since then, the schoolgirls have had health problems, which their mother links to side effects from the drug change.

Dasha was found to have polyps (benign growths. — Ed.). Katya had lung atelectasis (part of the lung became airless. — Ed.). These issues were studied by doctors at a research center. However, they did not connect the children«s worsening condition to the drug change, nor did they find the causes of the polyps and lung atelectasis.

No one listened to the mother«s arguments, and no one changed or adjusted the treatment. Then, the girls» mother decided on her own to switch the children to «Pulmozyme.» And they improved.

In 2025, Anna submitted documents to change the drug from analog to original at the Sergiyev Posad Central District Hospital, where she was refused. To test the mother«s theory, doctors suggested hospitalization at the NIKI Pediatrics Institute, where they previously could not find the causes of polyps and lung atelectasis. The parents refused, fearing the children would be switched back to »Tigeraza« and monitored for changes.

Then, they decided to purchase the drug themselves, with a package costing 40,000 rubles (about $400 at current rates). Now, to provide therapy for their children, the girls« father works around the clock. Moreover, their house is up for sale, and land has been sold.

The MSK1.RU correspondent interviewed dozens of experts to understand how to help the family. After all, the hospital offered only one option—return to the previous drug and undergo examination. But the girls« mother disagrees with this decision. She fears new relapses and breathing problems. You can read the opinions of doctors and experts in our first article.

Adult patients with neurofibromatosis type I are not prescribed maintenance therapy

Neurofibromatosis was not studied or treated for a long time. The bodies of such patients are disfigured by tumors that cannot always be removed, as growths appear on nerves. This provokes severe pain that cannot be relieved by painkillers.

Hundreds of people across the country live with this set of obstacles. Many do not go outside, cannot lead a social life. There is no cure for their disease, and therapy can only «halt» some symptoms. Moreover, not all regions, including Moscow, can provide the drug. Authorities cannot ensure supply for all adult patients.

Two of our protagonists, Muscovites, fall into this category: 40-year-old Yevgeny and 23-year-old Anastasia. For example, the man has lived with the disease as long as he can remember. One of the tumors presses on nerve nodes in his chest. The problem is that it cannot be removed. Painful sensations have become daily for him. Because of this, he even suffers from depression.

The disease deprived Yevgeny not only of relationships but also significantly hindered his career growth. He couldn«t complete university on his first attempt and socialize.

Now, Yevgeny is trying to secure therapy for himself to stop the disease and alleviate some symptoms. Recently, he finally received a recommendation for a proven drug, but the clinic where he is attached prescribed him the opposite treatment—experimental. However, he does not agree to it.

Anastasia, like Yevgeny, has suffered from skin spots since childhood. The characteristic scattering of tumors appeared only in elementary school. Since there is no cure for the disease, growths on the girl«s body continue to grow and increase in volume to this day.

She suffers from headaches that plague her several times a month. It is impossible to distract from them. Because of them, she sometimes cannot even leave the house.

The girl also denies herself open, fitted, feminine clothing, as she is ashamed of her body covered in tumors.

She could not take therapy because she did not have a disability. Only after obtaining this status can she undergo examination and start taking the drug. However, this requires spending a month in the hospital. For now, the girl is only on the path to this. She wrote an appeal and is waiting for a response from the clinic.

Adult patients with neurofibromatosis type I find it difficult to secure therapy due to disability issues. Some do not have enough limitations to obtain the necessary group. For doctors, some are «not sick enough» to receive medication.

Is there a chance to change this? Possibly. Learn more about this from the MSK1.RU correspondent in this article.