Yulia Tymoshenko has in a written statement to the management of the Kachanivska prison colony refused to accept medical assistance from prison doctors, according to the Official web site of Yulia Tymoshenko.
"Yulia Tymoshenko made a decision and informed the prison administration in writing that she will not meet with doctors of the State Prison Service or Ministry of Health," Serhiy Vlasenko told the press today in Kyiv.
He says that by spreading lies about Yulia Tymoshenko`s health, the authorities are trying to distract public attention from the fact that the ex-premier was illegally sentenced and transferred from the Kyiv jail to the prison colony in Kharkiv. "If they claim that Yulia Tymoshenko is healthy, then why do they have to meet with her? Even the investigation room has a special couch she lies on when she meets with investigators," he added.
In turn, Mykola Polishchuk, forensic medicine expert and former health minister, says that Yulia Tymoshenko is being given non-steroid anti-inflammatory painkillers that aren’t used anywhere in the world but the CIS because they are ineffective. "A drug such as this can’t be administered to a patient without doctor supervision because there can be different reactions. It can even cause respiratory failure. Therefore, I would like to warn doctors that use this drug to be careful and not prescribe it if they don’t know a person’s sensitivity to it, and if they do prescribe it there must be constant medical supervision," he said.
Mykola Polishchuk again stressed that Yulia Tymoshenko, given the pathological changes in her spine, needs specialized medical care. "With the problems that Yulia Tymoshenko has, I can clearly state that pain that lasts more than three months should be treated in a specialized hospital, not a jail or a prison colony, Ideally, she should be treated in a neurological hospital where she can undergo a whole range of treatment," he said.
The ex-minister also said that a patient has the right to receive assistance from trusted doctors.
"Yulia Tymoshenko trusts Ukrainian doctors. She just doesn’t trust doctors that are dependent on the Ministry of Health," Serhiy Vlasenko added.
