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Doctors and nurse arrested after Romanian hospital deaths
17 people died in the intensive care unit at St. Panteleimon Emergency Hospital in Bucharest over the course of four days.
Two doctors and a nurse from the St. Pantelimon Emergency Hospital in Bucharest have been arrested in connection with suspicious deaths in the ICU.
In mid-April, 17 people died within four days in the Intensive Care Unit.
The charges include aggravated murder and attempted murder in the case of the doctors, and perjury for the nurse who is involved in the investigation.
Prosecutors have alleged that the crime was premeditated, indicating that the doctors conspired to abruptly reduce the dose of noradrenaline in patients causing cardio-respiratory arrest.
According to one prosecutor, “One of the defendants voluntarily reduced the dose of norepinephrine to a patient who was in a quite serious condition”.
The three doctors and the nurse faced intense questioning for hours by homicide detectives and prosecutors.
The nurse involved allegedly lied to investigators despite being heard three times in the case as a witness.
Nearly four months after the scandal erupted and after three parallel investigations, including one by the control body that revealed communication issues, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has called for the hospital’s management to resign.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu expressed that “The important thing is that we uncover these things. Let those who do this go to jail”.
The investigation began in April after an ICU nurse alleged that 17 people, aged between 42 and 92, had died.
Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said the perpetrators of the crime should face jail if found guilty.