An inquest into the death of Morgan Ribeiro, a 20-year-old who died days after a gastric sleeve operation in Turkey, has been delayed due to the non-cooperation of the operating surgeon, Dr. Serkan Bayil. The coroner is struggling to obtain information about the procedure from the doctor, who is based in a foreign jurisdiction, stalling the investigation into potential malpractice.
The tragic death of Morgan Ribeiro, a 20-year-old woman from Croydon, south London, has raised serious concerns about the safety of medical tourism for bariatric surgery .
Morgan travelled to Istanbul, Turkey on January 5, 2024, for a gastric sleeve operation costing £2,500, a fraction of the £8,000 to £10,000 such procedures typically cost in the United Kingdom. She paid for the surgery using her trust fund. The operation was performed by Dr. Serkan Bayil, who is associated with the Apera Health Group clinic.
According to an inquest held at South London Coroner's Court, Morgan's surgeon provided her with medical clearance to return to the UK just three days after the surgery. However, during her flight back to London Gatwick with her partner, Jamie Brewster, she became seriously ill. The aircraft was compelled to make an emergency landing in Belgrade, Serbia, where Morgan was rushed to an intensive care unit. She died on January 13, 2024.
A Serbian post-mortem examination determined the cause of death as "diffuse inflammation of the retroperitoneum" resulting from a "rupture of the intestinal wall.
" This finding strongly suggests that Morgan's small intestine was perforated, or punctured, during the gastric sleeve procedure in Turkey. Such a perforation would have allowed intestinal contents to leak into her abdominal cavity, leading to a severe infection and ultimately sepsis, which proved fatal. This medical complication is a known, though serious, risk associated with bariatric surgery.
Dr. Bayil has previously contested this version of events, claiming that Morgan died from an embolism on the flight, a theory contradicted by the Serbian autopsy results. The Assistant Coroner, Laura Stephenson, expressed her inability to record a final conclusion in the case because Dr. Bayil has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for information about the operation. Coroner Stephenson detailed a frustrating, months-long effort by her office to contact the surgeon.
Since December, multiple letters and emails were sent to Dr. Bayil at the Apera Health Group clinic's address, informing him of his status as an "interested person" in the inquest and seeking his account of the surgery. The coroner's team is uncertain whether the correspondence reached Dr. Bayil or if he remains affiliated with the clinic. The proceedings have been delayed multiple times, including an adjournment from October of the previous year to gather more information.
The most recent hearing was again postponed after last-minute attempts to reach the doctor failed. Stephenson set a new hearing date of August 28, stating she would reach a conclusion by then, with or without the surgeon's participation.
"I want to finish the inquest today and I know the family has been waiting a long time," she said. "However I need to consider fairness to all parties. He has the right to participate in the inquest.
" The coroner emphasized the importance of obtaining the surgeon's perspective not only for the family's sake but also for public safety. "If there's a safety issue here on which action can be taken to prevent future deaths, then I want all the information possible," Stephenson remarked. "It's hard to get that without the surgeon or clinic's perspective.
" Morgan's father, Richard Ribeiro, who attended the court hearings alone and tearfully, expressed his family's profound grief and their desire for answers. When asked whether he preferred the court to proceed with the information available or to continue pursuing the missing details from Turkey, he stated: "I have waited two years for this. I'll wait as long as it takes. I want to know whether it was malpractice or not.
" Both of Morgan's parents, including her mother, Erin Gibson, have publicly advocated for stricter regulations on surgeries performed abroad to prevent similar tragedies. The operation was conducted at the Medevita private hospital in Istanbul, which reportedly provided the facilities but did not have Dr. Bayil as a permanently based staff member.
This case underscores the complex legal and medical challenges that can arise when seeking affordable healthcare overseas and highlights the painful, prolonged quest for accountability and justice for bereaved families when responsible parties are unresponsive or beyond immediate jurisdictional reach
Medical Tourism Bariatric Surgery Gastric Sleeve Turkey Coroner Inquest Surgical Complication Intestinal Perforation Patient Safety Apera Health Group
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