DOCTORS have performed an abortion on the wrong woman who was four months pregnant after mistaking her for another patient.
Medics have blamed the language barrier for the horror mix-up which left a foreigner with an unwanted termination of pregnancy.
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The four-month-pregnant woman had walked into the Bulovka University Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, for a routine check-up on March 25.
But instead of a regular examination, the unnamed mum was anaesthetised and underwent a curettage – a surgical cleaning of the uterus – without consent or knowledge.
The op was intended for another woman who was also a foreigner but the error went undetected by doctors, a gynaecologist, a nurse and an anaesthesiologist involved.
The procedure is usually performed on women with gynaecological problems rather than pregnant patients, but sometimes can be used for abortion.
An anonymous source told Prahain.CZ that both women were of Asian descent and did not speak Czech well.
They said: “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.
“For incomprehensible reasons, the two patients were swapped at the clinic and the poor woman’s child was scratched.”
As a result of the surgery, the woman miscarried.
The staff who carried out the procedure have been suspended and the investigation is underway.
Aside from negligence, the error could be attributed to the language barrier, a health expert revealed.
Jan Přáda, gynecologist and vice-chairman of the Czech Medical Chamber told Seznam Zpravy : “If she could not speak Czech or a known international language well, it could play a role.
“Translators are sometimes on the phone, which can also complicate communication.
“This is not to say that doctors should not deal with it, just that the risk of misunderstanding increases.
“A Czech-speaking patient would probably actively resist the fact that she is going to undergo a procedure that she does not understand.”
He added that the patients must have been asked to present ID and the mum should have never even made it to the operating table.
It is unclear in which language the doctors communicated with the foreign patient.
Abortion Laws in Different Countries
In England, Scotland and Wales abortions are allowed before 24 weeks of pregnancy. They can be carried out after 24 weeks in exceptional circumstances.
The termination is only legal when performed by a licensed medical professional (a doctor) and it must also be signed off by two other doctors.
Abortion can be legally performed up to 12 weeks for any reasons and up to 23 weeks for medical reasons.
It can also be carried out at any point of pregnancy in cases of fetal abnormality.
After the US Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade, the national right to abortion has been abolished. Now the abortion laws are in the hands of each state.
Abortion remains legal in 28 states, and In other states, abortion is illegal with rare exceptions such as rape or threat to life.
As of January 2024, 14 states have completely banned abortions while two states – Georgia and South Carolina – have prohibited abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
Abortion in France is legal until 14 weeks after conception.
They can be performed at later stages if two doctors can certify that doing so will prevent harm or risk to the life of an expectant mother; or if a child will suffer from an incurable illness.
David Marx, chair of the Czech Society for Quality in Healthcare, said: “The goal must be to do a root analysis, identify the causes, and set a process so that this never happens again.”
The hospital has apologised to the affected patient and her family, and is prepared to offer financial compensation.
The Bulovka hospital spokeswoman Eva Stolejda Libigerova told CNN Prima News: “According to the findings so far, as a result of a serious violation of internal regulations on the part of the employees concerned, the surgical procedure was initiated on the incorrectly identified patient.
“If violations of mandatory working procedures are revealed as part of the ongoing internal investigation, specific individuals will be held personally responsible for it.”
The hospital has immediately notified the Health ministry of what they called “an undesirable event”.
Ministry spokesman Ondřej Jakob said: “The Ministry of Health expresses its deep regret to the patient and the entire family.
“There was an inexcusable human error, the guilty parties have been removed from duty for the time being.”
Read more on the Scottish Sun
The clinic will continue informing the ministry of further steps regarding the responsible personnel and will address the mistake.
The police are treating the incident as a case of bodily harm.
