The prosecutors attached to the Bucharest Tribunal have received a notification regarding the suspicious deaths of patients admitted to the ICU ward of Saint Pantelimon Hospital.
The hospital’s management confirmed to Antena3 that the prosecutors have received a notification and stated that they will also initiate their own investigation to find out exactly what happened.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health announced that it is sending the Control Body to Saint Pantelimon Hospital after a nurse reported that 20 patients had died due to improper administration of a medication.
Additionally, the director of care accuses that he is being prevented from carrying out his activities.
"Following the notifications received from the director of care at the Saint Pantelimon Emergency Hospital regarding the hindrance of exercising his duties within the hospital, the Minister of Health has decided to send the Control Body to verify the reported aspects," the Ministry of Health stated in a press release on Thursday.
The hospital's manager was informed in writing by the director of care that there is information from an unnamed nurse that between April 4-7, 20 patients in the ICU ward died due to incorrect administration of a medication.
"The hospital's management has set up a committee composed of doctors from other departments to verify the reported aspects. Additionally, the Ministry of Health's Control Body will also get involved in verifying these serious accusations related to patient safety. Since it involves medical professional activity, the support of the College of Physicians of Bucharest has been requested, and the conclusions, if necessary, will be forwarded to other competent institutions," the Ministry of Health further conveyed.
Initially, information about the deaths at Saint Pantelimon Hospital was published by cetateanul.net, which announced that a report will be submitted to the Bucharest Prosecutor's Office.
According to the cited source, doctors in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are allegedly killing critically ill patients. Specifically, doctors are deliberately reducing the prescribed dose of noradrenaline, a substance that is crucial for keeping patients alive.
Sources from the hospital informed cetateanul.net that, in just two days, from Thursday, April 4, until Saturday morning, nearly 20 patients died in this manner.
The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, stated on Antena3 that he has never encountered such accusations throughout his medical career.
"There have been other notifications regarding the hospital's activities during this week. I have sent the Control Body following these notifications. This issue with a wave of deaths and so on, these are things that need to be ascertained, not just declared. Furthermore, the professional competencies of the medical staff, the doctors, are being questioned there, so I cannot make any statements regarding this subject.
I have spoken with the manager, I have been in direct contact with him, he says there is no such thing.
But, again, I do not want to prejudge, I await the results from my colleagues at the Control Body and then we will act accordingly. If a criminal complaint has been filed, even better, because then there will be another type of investigation, alongside the administrative one we are conducting.
There have been no complaints from patients, only complaints from some of the employees there, at the hospital. These are complaints that need to be verified, I prefer not to comment until I verify them.
I have not encountered these kinds of accusations in my medical career so far," stated the Minister of Health.