A woman reportedly received an unwanted abortion at a Prague hospital when she was mistaken for another patient.
The mix-up occurred March 25 in the Czech Republic at the Bulovka University Hospital, the Daily Mail reported. The pregnant woman reportedly came to the hospital to have a routine checkup, as she was four months pregnant. However, she was mistaken for another patient and a curettage was performed on her uterus, resulting in the death of her unborn child, according to the outlet.
A curettage is a medical procedure “to remove tissue from inside your uterus,” according to Mayo Clinic. In this case, the pregnant woman miscarried following the procedure, the Daily Mail reported.
Horror hospital mix-up sees medics perform abortion on the wrong mother: Prague medics blame ‘language barrier’ after four-months pregnant woman supposed to be having a check-up miscarries https://t.co/q7DWVfuaGB pic.twitter.com/3sT9MSp78B
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) April 1, 2024
Doctors at the hospital confused the pregnant woman with the other patient because they were both Asian and did not speak Czech, according to the New York Post. (RELATED: ‘Power Politics’: Data Shows Pentagon’s Argument For Abortion Travel Policy Doesn’t Add Up)
Gynecologist and Czech Medical Chamber Vice-Chairman Jan Přáda spoke on the incident to the Czech outlet Seznam Zpravy.
“A Czech-speaking patient would probably actively resist the fact that she is going to undergo a procedure that she does not understand,” Mr Přáda told the outlet.
“According to the 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 University Hospital’s spokesperson Eva Stolejda Libigerová told CNN Prima NEWS.
The hospital is investigating the incident and the staff responsible for the mix-up were suspended, Libigerová told the outlet. “In the event that a violation of binding work procedures is discovered as part of the current internal investigation, specific individuals will be held personally liable,” she reportedly continued.