Yekaterinburg cancer patient faces treatment delay due to paperwork
A patient in Yekaterinburg has spent three weeks attempting to obtain a vital medical referral.
A 73-year-old Yekaterinburg woman with a fatal diagnosis is being denied treatment. For several weeks, she has been trying to get a referral to the oncology center on Soboleva from Clinic No. 2 of City Clinical Hospital No. 2 on Moskovskaya. Only one specialist — an oncologist — can issue it.
The patient with stage three cancer urgently needs to see a doctor. She had an appointment scheduled for 17 November. But when she arrived, it turned out that the doctor was on sick leave, and a second specialist had quit. This was reported to E1.RU by the pensioner«s daughter.
“We«ve been going to the hospital since 17 November, we had a doctor»s appointment. They can«t give a referral to oncology. She has stage three, metastases have spread to the lymph nodes. Her arms and legs are already swollen. Waiting for the oncologist to return from sick leave is fatal in our case. I wrote a letter to the Ministry of Health, no response yet. The head doctor referred me to some surgeon, I go there, and he can»t give a referral without an oncologist. We only need one piece of paper, but I«m being pushed around everywhere,” the sick patient»s daughter said.
The woman from Yekaterinburg submitted a formal appeal to the hospital regarding her treatment.
After our appeal to the clinic, the patient was issued the necessary referral:
“Only an oncologist has the right to issue a referral to the Sverdlovsk Regional Oncology Dispensary (SOOD). Currently, the oncologist at City Clinical Hospital No. 2 is on sick leave. The patient«s daughter was offered to come for the referral for her mother in three days, on Monday, 15 December 2025. At present, the referral is ready and can be picked up at Clinic No. 2 of TsGB No. 2.”
Earlier we wrote about how the sons of Chechen war veteran Viktor S. complained about the indifference of medical staff. Their father was being treated at City Clinical Hospital No. 1 in Yekaterinburg, but he signed a refusal of hospitalization and left in hospital slippers into the freezing cold at 10 p.m. on a Saturday. The men are sure: their father was in an inadequate state and should not have been released.
Read an interview with a lawyer about medical cases and how patients can protect their rights. And here is the opinion of the other side — a lawyer defending doctors — on how lawsuits hinder medical workers and how experienced specialists come under fire.
