"Saakashvili is very weak, he does not get out of bed" - report from Vivamed clinic

Vivamed clinic report

Vivamed clinic, where ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili is being treated after transfer from a prison hospital, has issued a report on his condition. “He is very weak, in bed all the time, his limbs hurt and he is suffering,” Vivamed’s clinical director Zurab Chkhaidze said. Chkhaidze partially blames the patient himself for the deterioration of his health.

“Our goal is to improve his well-being, vital functions, physiological parameters, and other indicators. And this, of course, to some extent depends not only on the doctors, but also on the patient,” Chkhaidze says.

Tamara Davarashvili, Saakashvili’s attending physician, says he is getting worse; his weight and body mass remain low. Davarashvili says doctors are helping Saakashvili in every possible way, but getting him to eat is still a problem:

“The most annoying thing is that his diet is still wrong. He continues to take unbalanced food. Vomiting and nausea, we observe very rarely.”

Saakashvili’s appetite has decreased owing to his situation, “associated with loss of freedom”, endocrinologist Sopo Mebuke says. In the latter’s opinion he is consuming only about a third of required calories.

“In recent days, this is somewhere around 300-400 calories per day. And he needs a minimum of 1,700 calories and to gradually increase that number. He was offered a certain diet. But he continues to eat only foods that he wants,” Mebuke says.

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Family members and lawyers of the third president asked for a postponement or pardon for Saakashvili on health grounds and filed a petition with the court, which was rejected. Judge Giorgi Arevadze announced the decision at the final session of the Tbilisi City Court.

The main opposition party of Georgia, the United National Movement, announced that it would protest.

“Officials from the Georgian Dream will not rest [until he is dead],” UNM chairman Levan Khabeishvili said. After meeting with party leaders, he talked about plans for the future and said the United National Movement would no longer participate in the work of parliament, but would begin street rallies and protests near the homes of members of Georgian Dream.