Patient who stabbed urologist with screwdriver charged with attempted murder

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Two weeks after 58-year-old Dr. Marius Gai, deputy head of the urology department at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, was viciously attacked by a 64-year-old outpatient, prosecutors in the case filed an indictment against the assailant on Tuesday, charging him with attempted murder. According to the indictment sheet, Ariel Shmilov arrived at the hospital armed with a screwdriver, and insisted that his chronic kidney stone problem demanded immediate surgery. After the secretary in the ward gave him a date on which to return, Shmilov said he would not leave until he spoke with Gai. The indictment detailed how upon meeting with Gai, Shmilov allegedly yelled at the doctor continuously, and then attacked him when he tried to go into the secretary's office in order review the the suspect's file. "The accused pulled out a screwdriver, raised it, and stabbed the doctor in the throat with tremendous force... with the intent to kill," the indictment read. As a result of the attack, Gai suffered damage to his spinal cord, shoulder and abdomen. He has since been upgraded to moderate condition from the serious but stable condition in which he was originally admitted to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. According to his wife, it was not yet known how much paralysis he would suffer as a result of the attack.