BYE BYE GAZA - Barry Chamish

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"A night before the catheterization he should have been
hospitalized in Hadassah or at least made to stay in
Jerusalem," the director said. "I also have questions about
the dosage of blood-thinning medication he received. My
feeling is that Sharon did not get the best medical treatment
he deserved."
A senior doctor told Haaretz that "Sharon's medical condition
was iatrogenic - that is, induced by treatment of physicians,
as it was likely that the blood-thinning medicine Sharon was
receiving had caused the severe brain bleeding."
According to the doctor, "Clearly, Sharon needed complete
rest at least until the catheterization, as anyone who had
undergone a stroke would. But it is hard to say that Sharon's
refusal to rest caused the hemorrhaging."
Another senior doctor said he suspected "Sharon's treatment
was partly faulty because he fell victim to the political-media
spin intended to show the public he was back to work as
usual."
"He paid a high price for this spin," the doctor said. "My
concern is that non-professional considerations dictated the
chain of medical events. The doctors took a dangerous but
calculated risk when they gave him blood-thinning drugs at
home instead of in the hospital under full supervision. But he
should have been kept under constant supervision and
certainly not allowed to return to work as usual."
Several questions have been asked this week regarding the
standard of treatment Sharon has received: How much time
elapsed from the moment Sharon told his son, Gilad, he
wasn't feeling well to the arrival of his personal doctor at
Sycamore Ranch? Why wasn't there a doctor at his side
since the first stroke, especially on the eve of the
catheterization? Why wasn't Sharon taken to the hospital by
helicopter? Why was he taken to the distant hospital in
Jerusalem, rather than to Be'er Sheva's Soroka Medical