Citizen NewsNG Doctor Performs Abortion On Wrong Patient
A medical doctor is reported to have carried out an abortion on a wrong patient by mistake in South Korea.
The incident occurred on August 7 at a clinic located in the district of Gangseo, in the country’s capital Seoul.
The patient had gone to the medical facility to receive a nutritional shot, only for her to lose her pregnancy of about six weeks old.
A mix-up in medical charts and failure to confirm her identity reportedly led to the sad incident.
The woman was said to have been mistaken for another patient who was also at the clinic for an abortion while the doctor went ahead with the operation.
CNN quoted the South Korean news agency Yonhap to have reported that the nurse who attended to the victim allegedly injected her with anaesthesia without confirming her identity.
The news firm added that the doctor, who also obviously did not confirm his patient’s identity either, performed the abortion which cost the unsuspecting patient her foetus.
Police authorities in the country noted that they were aware of the incident and announced on Monday that investigation was ongoing.
According to them, the doctor and nurse in charge are under investigation and being accused of negligence resulting in bodily harm.
“The doctor and nurse have acknowledged their fault,” a police official told CNN while authorities say the case will soon be sent to the prosecutor’s office.
The incident occurred three months after South Korea moved to legalise abortion in April this year.
The country’s constitutional court had, however, ruled that lawmakers must revise existing laws by December 31, 2020.
