Head of Orthopedics Clinic in Landstuhl: People in the EU stand up when Dr. Gavrankapetanović's name is mentioned

The Head of the Clinic for Orthopedics and Traumatology in the German city of Landstuhl, Dr. Halid Torić, who is originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that he follows the latest developments at the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo through the media and that he is seriously concerned about the medical profession in our country.

“At least medicine is one field where the profession, not politics, must lead the way,” said Dr. Torić in an interview for the Patria agency, commenting on the fact that the management of the largest healthcare institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina dismissed the leading European orthopedist, Dr. Ismet Gavrankapetanović, from the position of Head of the Clinic for Orthopedics and Traumatology without explanation, and that his persecution continued even after his dismissal, which caused outrage not only among some of his colleagues at KCUS, but also among doctors in Europe.

“I understand the latest developments at KCUS as a coup against the medical profession. In addition, it should be known that Bosnian and Herzegovinian doctors can work anywhere in the world because they have immense knowledge, but then patients will have problems,” says Dr. Torić.

“No one can be above the law. If Dr. Gavrankapetanović has broken the law, then he should be held accountable, but it is clear that this is not the case, but rather a political persecution, which his father experienced 40 years ago, and now he is experiencing the same,”.

Speaking about his experiences with Dr. Gavrankapetanović, Dr. Torić says that he is a Bosnian and Herzegovinian doctor, a true patriot, of European reputation, who paved the way for BH orthopedists to follow. He is, he says, a great visionary. By destroying such a man, Bosnian and Herzegovinian orthopedics is being destroyed, which is a great handicap for all citizens in the country.

The two met in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, when Dr. Gavrankapetanović began to raise BH orthopedics from the ashes.

“He built a reputation in Europe that you in BiH cannot comprehend from that distance. I know this because I live here and see how people look at him. In Europe, when someone mentions the name of Dr. Gavrankapetanović, everyone stands up. I have personally experienced this and seen it at congresses in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Frankfurt..., where we met,” says Dr. Torić, making it even more unbelievable to him that politics wants to bring down such a man, even though, he says, he worked for the country all the time, even during the war when some others left the city and their fellow citizens.

“You know, when you see the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina standing, and Dr. Gavrankapetanović behind it, and his colleagues applaud him, you cannot remain indifferent. Because you know that applause is earned. Well, at least in Europe, you cannot get anything without earning it. Dr. Gavrankapetanović was the president of the European Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology. And you know that he deserved it. Here, you get everything based on merit,” says Dr. Torić.

He says that what impressed him most about Dr. Gavrankapetanović was that he did not keep his reputation only for himself, but used it to help his colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina gain the best knowledge in the world, so that they could later serve all citizens.

“Wherever he went, to any country, Dr. Gavrankapetanović established contacts and sent young colleagues from BiH for specialization.”

Dr. Torić says he tries to understand his colleagues at KCUS who cannot publicly support Dr. Gavrankaptanović in his fight with the political system. People are afraid. Their families' and their own existence is at stake. However, he believes that a voice can at least come from the diaspora, which does not depend on the ruling parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina.