Soleman Alhakim purposefully walks back and forth in his living room. He shows off his new prosthesis. This is what he has fought for. The leg has improved a lot, but there is a big dent in the joy. – I am worried. I owe money to friends, family and the hospital in Germany, says Alhakim. He had hoped that the nightmare would soon be over, but in mid-December the application he had with the Unit for Foreign Treatment at Health Bergen was rejected. Alhakim had applied for financial support for a treatment that saved part of his right leg abroad. A treatment he was not offered in Norway because the healthcare system would rather amputate his leg. news has read the refusal. – We were quite shocked when we saw the rejection. It was like a punch in the face, says Alhakim’s brother-in-law, Maher Abdalelah Alrahmoun. – I believe I have the right to a positive answer because of the way I have been treated in Norway. They gave me the wrong diagnosis, adds Alhakim. HELPING: Soleman Alhakim (left) is helped by his brother-in-law Maher Abdalelah Alrahmoun. He acts as an interpreter and helps with the documents in the case. Photo: Hanne Høyland / news Fighting for his leg news has previously told how Alhakim could have lost his entire right leg if the Norwegian doctors had got what they wanted. In 2013, he was exposed to a bomb attack in his hometown of Homs in Syria. When he came to Norway, parts of his foot were amputated. Due to great pain and the discovery of a multi-resistant bacteria in the foot, the doctors in Norway believed that the only right thing to do was to amputate the entire leg. That would condemn Alhakim to a life in a wheelchair, while the hope was for as normal a life as possible with a prosthesis. NEW PROSTHESIS: The treatment in Germany means that Alhakim is one step closer to the life he wants to live in Norway. Photo: Hanne Høyland / news He therefore defied the doctors’ advice in Norway and received treatment at a hospital in Rostock in Germany. There, the doctors thought they could save his leg. This cost a lot of money. Alhakim and Alrahmoun scraped together savings and borrowed from friends and family. An uncle in Germany also took out large loans to have enough to pay the bills. Against all odds, the treatment abroad worked. In addition, the doctors in Germany could not find the multi-resistant bacteria that the doctors in Norway were talking about. Supported by his doctor When Alhakim returned to Norway, the Norwegian doctors could not find traces of the bacteria either. Senior doctor Håvard Dale at Haukeland University Hospital then stated that the hospital may have made an incorrect assessment “preoperatively”, i.e. before the operation. The head doctor has since tried to help his patient get the expenses of the stay abroad reimbursed. He has nothing new to say on the matter, other than that he still wants to help Alhakim. In an e-mail, the doctor writes: “Now that the refusal is available, I will assist him with an application to HELFO for reimbursement of foreign treatment in an EEA country, in order to assess whether he has rights there.” Although Helse Bergen cannot approve Alhakim’s application, they understand his situation. – We understand that the patient is in a difficult situation. But his application does not meet the criteria for financial support from the Unit for Foreign Treatment as we see it, says Marta Ebbing, subject director at Helse Bergen. Subject director Marta Ebbing at Helse Bergen. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Alhakim is weighed down by the debt burden. NOK 120,000 has been paid, while NOK 61,000 remains. The uncle in Germany has received two debt collection claims from the German hospital, which has now agreed to freeze the amount pending the proceedings in Norway. – I have a great desire to be able to repay the money to those who have helped me, says Alhakim. The patient ombudsman believes in other solutions The patient and user ombudsman in Rogaland believes that Alhakim’s case should rather belong to the overseas unit of Helfo. – Based on the way the case has been presented in the media, we would recommend that the patient apply for reimbursement from Helfo. They administer a scheme that gives patients entitled to health care in Norway the opportunity to receive the same health care in another EEA country, says patient and user representative Gro Snortheimsmoen Bergfjord. This arrangement does not require you to apply for and get the plans approved in advance, as the Unit for Foreign Processing requires. – The operation he had carried out in Germany could have been carried out in Norway. After all, he had an offer for a more extensive intervention. If the patient meets the conditions for reimbursement, he can be reimbursed an amount that corresponds to what the treatment would cost the public in Norway, she explains. Gro Snortheimsmoen Bergfjord, who is the Patient and User Ombudsman in Rogaland, believes there is still hope in the matter. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news If this doesn’t work, she believes an application to Norwegian Patient Injury Compensation is the next step. – The patient can have a case here if it can be said that it was a failure that he was not offered the operation he wanted at Haukeland, says Bergfjord. Alhakim has already tried his case with Norwegian Patient Injury Compensation. Here he is still waiting for an answer. – It is very important and decisive for me, but I have hope, he says. After news spoke to Alhakim, he has also come into contact with the Patient and User Ombudsman in Rogaland, so that they can help him further in the matter. This has happened in the case so far as Alhakim applied to Helse Bergen’s foreign office to have the treatment approved in Germany in advance. The application was not granted. The case has been rejected by the “Unit for foreign treatment” in Health Bergen. Reimbursement has been applied for with the Norwegian Patient Compensation Agency. The case is still under consideration.
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Soleman Alhakim went abroad to save his leg – does not receive financial help from Health Bergen – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
