Representatives of the Physicians’ College presented the results of the investigation at St. Pantelimon Hospital in Bucharest. They specified that in all 17 cases, there was no suspicion of any deviation from protocols or that anyone had deliberately taken a patient’s life.
The President of the Disciplinary Committee of the Bucharest College of Physicians, Liana Pleş, stated in a press conference that in all the incriminated cases, between two and six doctors were involved.
"From the files we had, we first followed the discussion with the doctors on each file because I must tell you that in some cases, several doctors were involved, from two up to six doctors from the same department. This would have implied that all six doctors had a behavior that was not appropriate medically or professionally," said Liana Pleş.
23 doctors were interviewed.
"The Committee analyzed each of the 17 death cases individually and interviewed 23 doctors, namely all the doctors from the ICU department, of course, we retained those who were present and related to the respective cases.
The Committee found that all cases, absolutely all cases that reached the ICU, represented critical cases in a very, very serious condition, mostly transfers from other hospital departments, some after several months of hospitalization.
Some came already with resuscitated or non-resuscitated cardiac arrest from outside the hospital, and in one case, there was also a transfer from another hospital, of a case that was already beyond help, a very serious case that deteriorated on the same day," explained the President of the Disciplinary Committee.
The protocols of the Romanian Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care were followed.
"We analyzed the entire evolution, the entire course of each patient in the hospital, and of course, we focused on the incriminated moment. (...) We checked if there were protocols of the Romanian Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, which are the ones that all doctors must respect in their professional activity. If these protocols are known, and also we checked the entries in the observation sheet point by point, respectively if the doses administered were in line with the indications, if they were adjusted or adapted to the clinical situation of each patient.
From this analysis, in all 17 cases, there was no suspicion that there was any deviation from these protocols or that someone intentionally, especially since in some cases there are entries from several doctors on the same day, had committed a deliberate act to suppress or reduce for criminal purposes," added Liana Pleş.
Several investigations have been initiated, including a criminal one, following accusations regarding the death of several patients in just a few days in the ICU department of the Emergency Clinical Hospital "St. Pantelimon" in Bucharest, due to the improper administration of a medication.
The Ministry of Health's Control Body has issued preliminary conclusions, stating that the verifications focused only on the administrative activity of the unit. "The complaints are based on a faulty communication," stated the Ministry of Health.
The Prosecutor's Office attached to the Bucharest Tribunal also initiated a criminal investigation into the crime of homicide. Three employees of the medical unit were interviewed, on-site investigations were conducted, and documents were seized.