Horror hospital causes medics to perform abortion on the wrong mother: Prague medics blame ‘language barrier’ after four-month pregnant woman thought to have a control miscarriage

A horror patient mix-up at a Prague hospital left a foreigner having an unwanted abortion without the expectant mother’s consent or knowledge, with medics blaming the blunder on a ‘language barrier’.

The error occurred on March 25 at Bulovka University Hospital, after a woman in the fourth month of her pregnancy attended a routine check-up.

In a horror mix-up that went unnoticed by the nurses, doctors, a gynecologist and an anesthetist involved, she was put under anesthesia intended for another patient, who was also a foreigner.

The healthy pregnant woman was then subjected to curettage, a type of uterine surgery and abortion method, which was planned for the other patient.

After the devastating procedure, the woman suffered a miscarriage.

A health expert told local media that apart from gross negligence on the part of staff, a language barrier likely led to the tragic incident.

The hospital has apologized to the patient and her family and is prepared to offer compensation

In conversation with Czech media Seznam ZpravyGynecologist and deputy chairman of the Czech Medical Chamber Jan Přáda said: ‘A Czech-speaking patient would probably actively resist the fact that she is going to undergo a procedure that she does not understand.’

It is currently unknown what language the medical professionals spoke in when communicating with the affected patients.

“The goal should be to conduct a root analysis, identify the causes and set up a process so that this never happens again,” David Marx, president of the Czech Association for Quality in Healthcare, told the press.

“According to the findings so far, as a result of a serious violation of internal regulations by the employees involved, the surgical procedure was initiated on the incorrectly identified patient,” Bulovka spokeswoman Eva Stolejda Libigerova told reporters. CNN Prime News.

The staff responsible for the mix-up has been suspended and the hospital is investigating the incident.

“If violations of mandatory operating procedures are uncovered as part of the ongoing internal investigation, specific individuals will be held personally responsible,” the spokeswoman added.

The Ministry of Health was immediately informed by the head of the gynecology and obstetrics clinic at Bulovka Hospital of what a ministry spokesperson called an “adverse incident”.

“The Ministry of Health expresses its deep regret to the patient and the entire family,” ministry spokesman Ondřej Jakob said on Thursday.

“There has been an inexcusable human error, the guilty parties have been temporarily dismissed from their positions.”

He noted that the hospital would inform the office of further action to be taken against the employees who committed the errors and address the situation.

Jakob also stated that the hospital has apologized to the patient and her family and is prepared to provide compensation.

According to Radio Prague Internationalpolice said Saturday they were treating the case as a bodily harm 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 case of fetal abnormalities.

It comes after a doctor in South Korea 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 nutritional supplements.

But both the doctor and a nurse (neither of whom were identified at the time) failed to verify who she was and gave her anesthesia before performing the abortion.