Ombudswoman’s medical panel: Saakashvili’s condition stable

A medical panel invited by Georgian public advocate Nino Lomjaria says that the current condition of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is receiving medical care in Gori military hospital after a 50-day hunger strike, is stable. However, the medical council says that Saakashvili still has general weakness, balance problems, but vital parameters are within the norms.

 

The group of eight medical experts visited Saakashvili for the third time on November 23. Major problems revealed by the medical panel included the relative decrease in phosphate levels in the blood. It also said that Wernicke encephalopathy is not progressing at this stage. 

 

“After being transferred to the Gori Hospital, refeeding and intensive replenishment of thiamine, no convulsive activity has occurred and the patient’s condition has stabilized clinically,” said the doctors.

 

They stated that the CT scan of the patient’s head ‘did not indicate anything abnormal.’“As for the magnetic resonance imaging, the results of the test showed that within 48 hours after the start of adequate thiamine replenishment, the changes characteristic of the Wernicke syndrome are reversing, and as the patient’s condition has stabilized, there is no longer the need for urgent examination.

 

”The medical council says that given the combination of the current tough psychological environment and severe Wernicke syndrome caused by starvation, highly qualified specialists should be involved in the treatment process to achieve an appropriate outcome, to adequately diagnose, to determine the course of psychotherapy and pharmacological treatment, and to adequately manage the rehabilitation process.

 

They stated that multivitamins should be continued for the vitamin deficiency and physical rehabilitation should be supported. Saakashvili agreed to stop his hunger strike last week. The third president, who is now a citizen of Ukraine, says that he returned after eight years in political exile to remove the Georgian Dream government from power. 

 

He was convicted in absentia in Georgia back in 2018 for abuse of power and was sentenced to six years in prison. Saakashvili has also been charged with five other offences, including illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, abuse of power, illegally crossing the border and illegal rally dispersal.