A patient error at a Prague hospital led to an unwanted abortion in a stranger without the mother-to-be’s consent or knowledge, with doctors attributing the mistake to a “language barrier”.
The mistake occurred on March 25 at Bulovka University Hospital after a four-month pregnant woman underwent what she thought was a routine check-up.
Due to a confusion of horror that went unnoticed by the nurses, doctors, a gynecologist and an anesthesiologist involved, she was subjected to anesthesia intended for another patient, also a stranger.
The healthy pregnant woman was then subjected to curettage, a type of uterine surgery and method of abortion, scheduled for the other patient.
Following this devastating procedure, the woman suffered a miscarriage.
A health expert told local media that in addition to gross negligence by staff, a language barrier likely led to the tragic incident.
A healthy pregnant foreigner suffered an unwanted abortion at Bulovka University Hospital in Prague after confusion among patients.
The hospital apologized to the patient and her family and is ready to offer compensation
Speaking to Czech media Seznam Zpravygynecologist and vice-president of the Czech Medical Chamber Jan Přáda said: “A Czech-speaking patient would probably actively resist undergoing a procedure that she does not understand.”
It is currently unclear what language the healthcare professionals spoke in when communicating with the affected patients.
“The goal should be to carry out a fundamental analysis, identify the causes and establish a process so that this does not happen again,” said David Marx, president of the Czech Society for Quality in Healthcare , to the media.
“According to the results obtained so far, as a result of a serious violation of the internal regulations on the part of the employees involved, the surgical intervention was initiated on an incorrectly identified patient,” said Bulovka’s spokesperson. , Eva Stolejda Libigerova. CNN Prima News.
The staff responsible for the mix-up have been suspended and the hospital is investigating the incident.
“If violations of mandatory working procedures are revealed as part of the ongoing internal investigation, specific individuals will be held personally responsible,” the spokesperson added.
The Health Ministry was immediately informed of what a ministry spokesperson called an “undesirable incident” by the head of the gynecology and obstetrics clinic at Bulovka Hospital.
“The Ministry of Health expresses its deep regret to the patient and the entire family,” ministry spokesperson Ondřej Jakob said on Thursday.
“There was an inexcusable human error, the culprits have been removed from their positions for the time being.”
He said the hospital would inform the office of further action to be taken against the employees who made the errors and would remedy the situation.
Jakob also said the hospital apologized to the patient and her family and was ready to offer compensation.
According to Radio Prague Internationalpolice said Saturday they were treating the case as an assault and battery case.
In the Czech Republic, abortion can be legally performed for any reason up to 12 weeks, up to 24 weeks for medical reasons, and at any time during pregnancy in cases of fetal abnormality.
This comes after a South Korean doctor performed an abortion on the wrong woman in 2019 after failing to verify her identity.
The woman was six weeks pregnant when she went to the clinic to receive what appeared to be nutritional supplements.
But neither the doctor nor the nurse — neither of whom was identified at the time — checked on her and anesthetized her before performing the abortion.