Cuban nurse prosecuted without the due process guarantees

On 4th April, 2017, a critically ill patient arrived for emergency surgery. He was received in the operating room of the Provincial Hospital of Cienfuegos by nurse Amarylis Cuna Chadman, an anaesthesiologist and the doctor who would operate on him. The other members of the operating team who were to be present were not there. Amarylis and the doctor tied the patient to the operating table so he would lie motionless. The anesthesiologist reported that the patient did not have the right tube in his vein to give the anesthesia, so he asked Amarylis to provide him with more instruments to do his job. The nurse took the requested material from the one she had already prepared and told him that she would go out to replace the missing material before starting the operation. After some time of being out of the room, the nurse heard a scream, when she returned to the room she found out that the patient had fallen and hit his head. At that moment, all the medical personnel who should have been in the operating room from the beginning appeared. The Chief refers at first sight that the patient was okay and that he had to be operated on, but Amarylis asked her to communicate what happened and to suspend the operation to verify if the fall had caused any problem. However, the chief decides not to report it. Later, the patient's family noticed the fall due to some bruising and complained to the Hospital Management. As a consequence, they perform the procedures that should have been done at the time and a blood clot, which should have been operated on, is found on the head. The family refused to perform this operation and the patient died. As a result of these facts, a complaint for medical negligence was filed. In the investigation phase, Amarylis, the anesthesiologist and the ward cleaning nurse were charged, but as the nurses were not present at the time of the fall, only the anesthesiologist was brought to trial. At the trial before the Provincial Court, the anesthesiologist blamed Amarylis and he was acquitted of the crime of negligent homicide. The prosecution appealed the decision to the Supreme Court which stated that the Provincial Court should have remanded the proceedings as Amarylis was not part of the trial and could not defend herself. In this regard, it ordered that a proper investigation be started. As a result, the Criminal Investigation Department informed Amarylis that she would go to trial as a defendant, but did not instruct her to press charges. Faced with this situation, she complained to the Provincial Prosecutor's Office but they said that she should wait for the Provincial Court to summon her before assigning a lawyer to defend her.