A patient was the victim of a terrible mistake in a hospital in Prague (Czech Republic) on March 25. As noted by our colleagues at Parisian, this future mother lost the baby she was carrying after a curettage carried out by doctors. However, the young woman simply had an appointment for a routine check-up.
According to information from CNN Prima, the patient of Asian origin would have been confused with another. The language barrier would have led to this mistake, even in the waiting room of the Bulovka University Hospital. The four-month pregnant woman thus responded on behalf of the second patient, ultimately absent, before signing a consent document and following the staff into the operating room.
A misunderstanding with dramatic consequences
“When the anesthetist called her name in the operating room before the operation, she nodded again,” says a hospital staff member. However, it was the name of the other patient, who had to undergo curettage. This practice is necessary in the event of miscarriage, abortion or endometrial sampling.
The intervention therefore led to an abortion, without the consent of the mother. “According to the results obtained so far, following serious violations and non-compliance with internal regulations by the employees concerned, an operation was launched on a misidentified patient,” confirmed a hospital spokesperson at CNN. For Dagmar Raupachová, the patient’s lawyer, it is clear that the latter followed the doctors without understanding what was going to happen.
“The chain of errors is so long…”
An internal investigation has been opened to determine how such a tragedy could have occurred. “The chain of errors is so long that I simply cannot imagine it,” points out MP Tom Philipp. Pending the results of the investigations, the personnel involved in the incident have been dismissed. The patient is still hospitalized, with doctors having to make sure she can get pregnant again. Psychological and legal help was offered to him and, this time, the establishment called on an interpreter.
For their part, the police indicated that criminal proceedings for “bodily injury through negligence” had been launched. The medical staff could be sentenced to prison and the hospital will certainly have to compensate the victim, especially if she can no longer hope for pregnancy. “However, no one can replace the loss suffered by the mother with financial means,” said Health Secretary Kamal Farhan.