Tragic mistake: Woman dies after being treated with disinfectant during surgery at Hungarian hospital

To err is human. However, some mistakes have more tragic consequences than others. An unmarked bottle led to the death of a patient at Szigetvár Hospital.

During what should have been a routine surgery (removing a cyst), bottles got mixed up, and a disinfectant was used instead of the saline solution to wash out a patient’s abdominal cavity.

The bottle was not marked properly, which probably caused the mix-up. The incident happened in May at the Gynaecology Department of Szigetvár Hospital, RTL Klub reports. The woman was later transported in critical condition to a hospital in Pécs.

Infusing a saltier saline solution during and after surgery decreases overall complication rate for a complex procedure, while antiseptics are usually used to disinfect the tools used during surgeries.

Disinfectants basically start to destroy every cell in the body. Therefore, it is incredibly dangerous. When organs are damaged, they start working differently, which worsens the patient’s condition.

The woman eventually died of sepsis, a life-threatening organ dysfunction triggered by infection. She died at the clinic in Pécs, due to the complications caused by the disinfectant in her body. She left two grieving children behind. One of her colleagues claimed she was a positive person, and their whole neighbourhood is devastated.

The hospital launched an internal investigation and terminated the contracts of two staff members. One staff member from the operating room had a breakdown and was later also treated in a hospital. Criminal procedures are underway; the hospital was fined for two million forints (5,480 euros).

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Source: https://rtl.hu/