The woman who was in critical condition after undergoing an endoscopy procedure at a private clinic in Craiova at the beginning of April has passed away. Police are investigating the case as involuntary manslaughter and state that there is suspicion of medical malpractice.
The victim was a 52-year-old woman from Caracal, who went into cardiac arrest following a procedure performed by a surgeon from Craiova.
After the bronchoscopy, the woman was resuscitated and admitted in critical condition to the Intensive Care Unit of the Emergency County Clinical Hospital in Craiova, but later succumbed.
According to the police, based on the evidence gathered so far, combined with preliminary medical conclusions and the suspicion of medical malpractice, the investigation will continue regarding the commission of involuntary manslaughter. Currently, no charges have been brought against the surgeon.
Local media reports that the procedure was performed by Dr. Alin Demeterian at a private clinic.
Alin Demetrian was the manager of the Emergency County Clinical Hospital in Craiova and head of the Thoracic Surgery Department, being one of the most renowned surgeons in Craiova.
He is now accused of fatal errors during surgeries.
In January, the same doctor was indicted for involuntary manslaughter.
"On September 13, 2019, in his capacity as the lead operating physician, while performing his duties at the Emergency County Clinical Hospital in Craiova, due to failure to comply with precautionary measures for practicing the profession of thoracic surgery, Alin-Dragoş Demetrian improperly conducted an anterior cervical mediastinoscopy of the Carlens type on the patient B.D. during which he accidentally severed the right brachiocephalic trunk of the patient, causing massive external bleeding that led, on the morning of September 14, 2019, to the violent death of the patient, with a direct causal link between the medical procedure performed by the defendant and the patient's death," according to the prosecutors at the Craiova Court Prosecutor's Office.
Furthermore, the doctor is under investigation for "committing, under similar circumstances, three other involuntary manslaughter offenses as a result of medical negligence."
The doctor is under judicial control. Following the case of the patient from Caracal, prosecutors have requested a more stringent preventive measure than judicial control.
The Craiova Court rejected the request, considering that Dr. Alin Demetrian did not violate the terms of judicial control that prohibited him from operating only on cases directly related to the four deceased patients.