photo: Jan Holoubek, PrahaIN.cz/Hospital waiting room, illustrative photo
CASE: At the beginning of this week, a hard-to-believe event took place at the Bulovka University Hospital. The doctors of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic accidentally performed a curettage on a pregnant patient who came for a routine check-up, thus depriving her of her fetus. “An untoward incident occurred at our Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic,” hospital spokeswoman Eva Stolejda Libigerová confirmed to PrahaIN.cz.
The incident occurred on Monday, March 25. Two foreign women permanently living in Prague came to the gynecological clinic. A pregnant woman came for a routine check-up. Doctors should have performed curettage on the other foreigners, which is a procedure that is performed, for example, in the treatment of a diseased uterus. Curettage can also be used to artificially terminate a pregnancy.
This procedure was accidentally performed on an expectant mother. The staff made an incredible mistake.
“The first patient, who was pregnant, came for a routine check-up, the second patient came for curettage. Both women are of Asian descent. It is a procedure that is ugly called a scraping. It is performed on women who bleed for a long time or have problems after childbirth and the like. The procedure is performed on a woman who is not pregnant and suffers from gynecological problems. For incomprehensible reasons, they switched the two patients at the clinic and scratched the poor woman’s child,” a source who did not want to be named described the incident to our editors.
The Bulovka hospital confirmed the tragic event. “The 25th. In March, an adverse event occurred at our Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic. According to findings so far, as a result of serious violations and non-compliance with internal regulations by the employees concerned, an operation was started on an incorrectly identified patient,” Bulovka’s press spokeswoman Eva Stolejda Libigerová told the editors.
Sorry
The management of the Bulovka hospital and the staff of the mentioned clinic are not expecting pleasant moments. The unfortunate incident is all the more complicated because the affected patient is a foreign national. The whole incident may take on the tinge of an international scandal.
According to the information of our editorial office, the husband of the affected patient, accompanied by his legal representative, has already contacted the management of Bulovka. The hospital management does not take the seriousness of the situation lightly.
“We expressed our deep regret and apology to the patient and her entire family for this unfortunate event and assured her that we will do everything to mitigate the damage as much as possible and also compensate her. As an accredited teaching hospital, we have clearly defined rules and procedures that our medical staff is obliged to follow without exception. The affected staff of the clinic is placed off duty pending a full evaluation of the adverse event, with the understanding that, in the event of a violation of binding work procedures as part of the current internal investigation, specific individuals will be held personally liable,” said Eva Stolejda Libigerová.
