Death of a pregnant woman in a hospital in Nowy Targ. Three doctors face charges

• Following the death of a 33-year-old patient from Bochnia in May 2023, three doctors were charged: two for endangering the life of a woman and one for causing death by accident.
• Experts have negatively assessed the treatment of a woman who was admitted to hospital in the fifth month of pregnancy and died of septic shock
• The Patient Rights Ombudsman found numerous violations - from care inconsistent with medical knowledge to unreliable documentation
• The case is being monitored by Dorota's family representative - attorney Jolanta Budzowska, who also represents the family of the deceased Izabela from Pszczyna.

A patient from Bochnia died at the John Paul II Podhale Specialist Hospital in Nowy Targ on May 24, 2023. The patient was admitted to this facility in the fifth month of pregnancy and died of septic shock. Medical records show that a few hours before her death, at 5:20 AM, an ultrasound showed fetal demise. A few days earlier, on the night of May 20-21, the woman's waters began to break.

Shortly after the tragedy, the Patient Rights Ombudsman assessed that the patient's rights had been violated. This concerns the right to provide services in accordance with current medical knowledge, to provide health services with due diligence, but also a violation of the patient's right to obtain reliable, clear information about the state of health and the therapeutic plan. The Ombudsman also found a violation of the patient's rights to medical documentation in the form of its unreliable completion and gaps in the documentation.

The information about the charges against the three doctors was confirmed to PAP by Izabela Knapik from the Press Team of the District Prosecutor's Office in Katowice. This unit is conducting an investigation into the correctness of performing all medical procedures during Ms. Dorota's hospitalization. As prosecutor Knapik informed, the case was examined by experts who negatively assessed the diagnostic and therapeutic procedure that was implemented for the patient.

- In connection with the content of the opinion and other evidence gathered during the investigation, decisions were issued to present charges against three doctors, specialists in gynecology and obstetrics. Two people are accused of exposing the patient to direct danger of loss of life (Article 160 paragraph 2 of the Penal Code), while the charge against one person additionally included unintentionally causing the death of the patient (Article 160 paragraph 2 and Article 155 of the Penal Code) - described prosecutor Knapik.

As she added, so far, procedural actions have been carried out with two people. The suspects who have already been questioned have not admitted to committing the acts they are accused of, refused to provide explanations and answer questions.

According to information from PAP, the charge under Article 160 paragraph 2 of the Penal Code (exposing a person to danger by a person who was obliged to care for them) was brought against the former head of the ward to which Ms. Dorota was admitted. The charge brought against him is related both to the duties of a doctor he performed at the time, as well as supervision and control over the ward staff.

The second suspect is a doctor who was directly treating Ms. Dorota in the period preceding her death. The prosecutor's office accuses her of both exposing the patient to danger and causing her death by negligence. Both of these crimes are punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

In recent days, the charges were also supposed to be brought against a third doctor who was treating Ms. Dorota, but he has not yet been questioned - he asked for this to be done at his place of residence, at a different time.

Her family's attorney is Jolanta Budzowska, who also represents Izabela's relatives, who died in 2021 in the District Hospital in Pszczyna, where she reported after her water broke. - The course of the preparatory proceedings in the case of Ms. Dorota's death to date, in particular the detailed expert opinion - a team of specialists confirms the allegations formulated from the beginning in this case by her relatives - assessed Ms. Budzowska.

- It should be emphasized that the circle of people who may be charged in this case is not closed yet. The liability of medical personnel is, however, only one dimension of this tragedy. The source of medical errors is often unclear law, which requires change. The arbitrary interpretation of the applicable regulations creates a risk for both doctors and patients. After Ms. Izabela's death, recommendations were issued by the Minister of Health, which, however, did not prevent Ms. Dorota's death, and subsequent positions and standards issued by medical associations do not solve the problem of the lack of women's safety - emphasized the attorney.

The proceedings into the death of Dorota from Bochnia were previously conducted by the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Katowice. They were transferred to the district prosecutor's office after the Independent Medical Errors Department, which had been operating there for eight years, was liquidated in mid-2024.

This is another ongoing investigation in Katowice into the death of a pregnant woman who died in hospital. In November 2023, the local prosecutor's office filed an indictment with the court regarding the death of 30-year-old Izabela, who died in 2021 in the District Hospital in Pszczyna as a result of septic shock. Three doctors sat in the dock, responsible for exposing the patient to danger, and one of them also for unintentionally causing her death. Their trial is being held in a Pszczyna court in camera. A few months ago, the District Medical Court in Katowice suspended all three of them from practicing their profession.

The Katowice prosecutor's office also investigated the circumstances of the death of 37-year-old Agnieszka from Częstochowa, who died in early 2022, a few weeks after losing a twin pregnancy. The proceedings in this case were discontinued in 2024. In this case, the experts found no irregularities in the conduct of the medical personnel, considering them correct, sufficient and adequate to the patient's clinical situation.

All these tragedies were recalled in the public debate on the current abortion laws.

Copyrighted material - reprint rules are specified in the regulations .