Doctors unpunished for leaving spatula in woman's belly

Brno, March 6 (CTK) - Three doctors from a hospital in Ivancice, south Moravia, were acquitted of charges for having left a 30-cm-long surgical spatula in the belly of a woman they operated on in 2009, a court ruled Wednesday.

The court found a nurse assisting in the operation guilty of negligent infliction of bodily harm but it did not impose any punishment on her.

However, the court said it considered the consequences of the the doctors' mistake very serious.

According to the court, it was not possible to clearly prove who had really left the surgical instrument in the patient's body.

The witnesses did not say which of the doctors has stitched up the patient's belly.

The theatre nurse failed by not having checked the instruments systematically. Yet, the judge stressed that the nurse was not responsible for the pain the patient had suffered subsequently.

The woman suffered from tremendous pains for five months until the doctors finally revealed the mistake and removed the instrument from her body.

The court in Brno dealt with the case for the second time. It originally found two nurses from the operating theatre guilty. However, the appels regional court annulled the verdict and returned the case for reappraisal.

The patient, who has been suffering from the consequences of the negligent surgery to date, demanded a punishment for the health personnel and a financial compensation. Experts put it at up to 700,000 crowns.

The court did not decide on the compensation Wednesday, saying it should be set up in civil proceedings.

In reaction to the case, the hospital in Ivancice has taken a number of measurers to prevent such a situation from repeating in the future.