Russian surgeons charged for leaving instrument in patient's body
18:56, 11 February 2010
MOSCOW. February 11. KAZINFORM. A Moscow court sentenced a doctor and her assistant to a six-month conditional prison term after they were found guilty of forgetting a surgical instrument in their patient's abdomen, a local prosecutor's office said on its website on Thursday; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
The surgery took place in December 2008, and the instrument was taken out of the female patient's abdomen only two months later, during a second surgery.
Alla Mayachkina, the 30-year-old obstetrician-gynecologist, was charged after investigators discovered that she had not inspected her patient's abdomen following the surgery.
Her 25-year old assistant Oksana Osipova was charged of ignoring her professional duties as she had not counted the surgical instruments after the operation was completed.
Both Mayachkina and Osipova were deprived of their right to carry out surgeries for a year; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.