Health Minister: We Should Not Ask Patients About Their Religion, Beliefs, or Money

The Chief Justice of Isfahan announced the issuance of a verdict for three defendants in the case of removing stitches from an Isfahani child. According to the Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, Ahmad Khosravi, the Chief Justice of Isfahan, stated that the verdict issued for the defendants is 'not final.' The defendants are three members of the staff at the 'Ashrafi Isfahani' hospital in Khomeini Shahr, Isfahan province, who on December 7 removed the stitches from the chin of a four-year-old child due to the 'mother's inability to pay for treatment costs.' The report of this incident received widespread attention on social media and both domestic and foreign media, leading to the suspension of the defendants from work and multiple reactions from officials, including the Minister of Health. About three weeks later, while discussions about the incident were still heated, Abbas Rahimi, the Friday Imam of Khomeini Shahr, called for action against those who spread news of the misconduct of the hospital staff regarding the removal of the child's stitches, stating that no one has the 'right to publish negative news' about the city. The judiciary has now confirmed the issuance of a verdict for the doctor, nurse, and relevant manager in this case, but has not disclosed details of the verdict. Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi, the Minister of Health, appeared on a television program on Saturday night, January 5, and explained the results of the investigations into this controversial case: 'Of course, the judiciary should ultimately comment on this, but that night I sent a committee, and then two other committees went, and the report they gave me indicated that the doctor said it was crowded there and I jokingly said [to remove the child's stitches] and the nurse took it seriously. Two out of three stitches were removed, and one stitch remains. The entire incision is not more than two centimeters, so one or two stitches might suffice. The part that concerns us is our misconduct department, the Medical System Organization acted in a timely manner, and the section [overseeing] medical misconduct also took action, and at the same time, the final decision will be made by the honorable judge... Misconduct has been established. The doctor and nurse are currently suspended until the court announces its opinion.' The Minister of Health of Hassan Rouhani's government also explicitly stated that when emergency patients visit, they should not be asked 'about their name, religion, or insurance': 'Firstly, [the child's mother] did not have money; the reason is that she did not go for insurance. The gentleman who was in the hospital was also dismissed; he was truly one of our good managers, but he could have supervised and guided more that when a patient comes, an emergency patient, they should not be asked about their name, their religion, their beliefs, their money, or their insurance....' According to Article 2 of the Law on the Prohibition of Refusing Assistance to Victims and Removing Life Threats, approved on May 26, 1975, anyone who is obligated by duty or law to assist injured persons or those at risk of life and refrains from taking necessary action and helping them shall be sentenced to imprisonment from six months to three years.