Former head of ENT at Son Espases stands trial for the death of ex-mayor of sa Pobla

Doctor Manuel Vidal Tomás Barberán, former head of the otorhinolaryngology department at Son Espases, denied yesterday the charges of manslaughter during the trial for the death of Joan Comes, ex-mayor of sa Pobla, in 2021. The accused defended his actions and attacked his colleagues at the hospital.

The former head of ENT at Son Espases hospital, Manuel Vidal Tomás Barberán, faces a request for several years in prison for a charge of manslaughter due to serious professional negligence. The trial, which is taking place in the courts of Palma, revolves around the surgical intervention he performed on the ex-mayor of sa Pobla, Joan Comes, 62, who died in March 2021.

The accused apologises to the family

In his final statement, Dr. Tomás Barberán addressed the victim's family:

“I feel the family's pain for having made them believe that their relative could be alive. It has been a pain induced by hatred, by the hatred of some doctors towards me. I am sorry.”

The specialist denied acting with negligence and defended the technique used in the operation for the nasopharyngeal tumour, carried out on April 24, 2020.

Defence of the surgical technique

The doctor explained that he made the decision to operate himself, despite another physician in the department being the patient's referring doctor.

“This doctor hasn’t spoken to me for years. Patients do not belong to one doctor or another,”

he stated. The accused claimed he was present at the Head and Neck Tumour Committee of Son Espases that recommended the surgical treatment, although other witnesses deny this.

During his testimony, the former head of ENT detailed that the tumour was not resectable and that he opted for a technique adapted to the case.

“The decisions are made by the surgeon in the operating room. That tumour was escaping on all sides. It was not resectable. I removed four times more than the volume that was described in the imaging,”

he maintained. The operation lasted less than two hours and, according to his account, did not worsen the patient's situation, who had already undergone six previous surgeries, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.

The context of a divided hospital service

The trial has revealed the “clear internal conflict” that existed in the otorhinolaryngology department of Son Espases. The accused lashed out at his former colleagues, whom he accused of making the family believe that the patient could have survived. Dr. Tomás Barberán, who retired two months ago after a career with 750 surgeries annually, insisted that his intervention did not cause the tumour to spread.

“The pathologist is in his office, 300 metres away; if I had needed to use him, I would have done so,”

he added.

The family of Joan Comes, ex-mayor of sa Pobla for several terms, hopes that justice will clarify the circumstances of his death. The hearing continues this week with the testimony of witnesses and experts. For the residents of sa Pobla, the case has reopened the debate about the quality of care at the reference hospital in the Balearic Islands.