Nota de desagravo

Abstract

On November 12 th 2006, the Director of Incor-SP, Dr. Jorge Kalil Filho, gave an interview to "O Estado de São Paulo" Newspaper, in which, using the pretext of commenting on the crisis of his institution, he criticized cardiovascular surgery in an outburst that we consider beyond belief and an offense to all cardiovascular surgeons. Dr. Kalil said, for example, that Incor loses money "taking care of patients who were previously operated on in other hospitals", insinuating that the work of other hospitals is of bad quality. This is truly ridiculous. Even though he is an immunologist and not a cardiologist nor cardiovascular surgery, he should be well informed about the reality of our specialty. Highly complex procedures are successfully performed in more than 150 hospitals and universities throughout Brazil. It would be inelegant to cite some institutions as it is impossible to list all of them. Of course there may be a necessity of reoperations, but, this does not mean, in any way, that the first procedure was incorrectly performed. Additionally, we have not heard about any surgeons from the north to the south of Brazil, who were unable to expertly care for patients suffering from severe complications showing dedication and competence. It is also an absurd to say that the cardiology of Incor-SP is unbeatable; an attitude of disrespect and arrogance in respect to other hospitals and universities. We would like to reaffirm our highest respect for the history of Incor, which, since its foundation by the late Professor Euriclydes Zerbini, has counted on brilliant cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and other professionals on its staff, who with their hard work, provided great advances in the healthcare in Brazil and who with great merit made Incor-SP an international reference center. Even today, its staff includes renowned and merited professionals. But, once again we stress, that this is an inappropriate attitude for a director of Incor to have; to defame a group of brilliant cardiovascular surgeons that all across Brazil did and continue to do firstclass work dedicated to the patients, independently of remuneration or fame. We hope that Dr. Jorge Kalil Filho reflects on these words and in the future grants justice to the members of a society of more than 1000 professionals who are proud of the medicine and surgery practiced in Brazil; the heirs of traditions which will never be forgotten.