Three Cases Of Medical Personnel Falling From Second Floor Of Hospital, Russia Holds Investigation

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JAKARTA - In the past two weeks, Russia has faced three cases of health workers mysteriously falling from hospital windows. This has increased public attention to the working conditions of doctors and medical professionals in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporting from CNN, Tuesday, May 5, two of the health workers died and one is still being treated in hospital. All three incidents are being investigated by Russian law enforcement authorities and are prompting intense discussion among the Russian press and social media.

Alexander Shulepov, a doctor in Voronezh, is in serious condition after falling from a hospital window. Russian state TV channels reported that health officials said he fell from a window on the second floor of the Novousmanskaya Hospital, where he works and is receiving treatment after testing positive for COVID-19.

Shulepov was hospitalized with COVID-19 on April 22, the same day he and his colleague Alexander Kosyakin posted a video saying that Shulepov was forced to continue working after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Criticism of the hospital

Kosyakin has previously criticized the hospital where she works for a shortage of protective gear. The information he gave led him to be interrogated by the police because he was suspected of being fake news

"Shulepov is now in the intensive care unit, as far as I know he is in serious condition, the last time I spoke to him was April 30, we checked each other out," Kosyakin said.

"He felt fine, he was getting ready to be discharged from the hospital and suddenly this happened (fell from the second floor of the hospital), it is not clear why, so many questions that I don't even have answers," he added.

Novousmanskaya Hospital said that Shulepov was not working after he informed the hospital about his positive diagnosis for COVID-19. Shulepov was then offered to be hospitalized in the infectious disease department.

Three days later, Shulepov retracted his statement regarding protection at the hospital and said he was "overcome with emotion". The second video Shulepov recorded features Igor Potanin, the chief doctor of the Novousmanskaya Hospital, who said his medical staff had sufficient protective equipment.

"I talked about this to department employees: I wouldn't let anyone go to an outpatient or inpatient department if we didn't have enough protection, I told them I would go there myself," said Potanin.

On May 1, Elena Nepomnyashchaya, the acting chief doctor of a hospital in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, died after one week in intensive care.

Local TV station TVK Krasnoyarsk reported at the time that Nepomnyashchaya allegedly fell from a window after a meeting with regional health officials, where they discussed turning the hospital into a COVID-19 facility.

Nepomnyashchaya reportedly opposes the change because he feels the hospital lacks protective gear at the hospital. The local health department denied the accusations in a statement, adding that the hospital was an alternative for COVID-19 patients and its staff were well equipped.

On April 24, Natalya Lebedeva, head of emergency medical services at Star City, the main training base for Russian cosmonauts, died in hospital after falling. The Federal Biomedical Agency Hospital said that initially Lebedeva was treated on suspicion of contracting COVID-19.

"He is a true professional in his field, saving lives every day," said the hospital.