The Bordeaux University Hospital was condemned after the amputation of the 4 limbs of a woman who had contracted a nosocomial infection following an abortion.
Severe complications are extremely rare during voluntary terminations of pregnancy (abortion). But 36-year-old Priscilla Dray was not so lucky. After an abortion performed in 2011 at the Bordeaux University Hospital (Gironde), she was the victim of a nosocomial infection, which resulted in the amputation of her four limbs. Since then, she has criticized the establishment for not having prescribed antibiotics early enough. An argument that has been heard justice.
According to the newspaper South West, a group of experts from the administrative court of Bordeaux issued its conclusions and condemned the CHU, for failing to take charge, to a provision of 300,000 euros for future compensation. “There is nothing to limit the CHU’s share of responsibility for the occurrence of the damage”, write the magistrates.
The Bordeaux University Hospital had, for its part, claimed not to have committed the slightest fault. He felt that the pathology, extremely rare, was difficult to detect, especially in the absence of signs of infection.
A gynecologist indicted
In fact, however, the day after the operation, on Saturday, Priscilla returned to the maternity ward, suffering from a high fever and pain. Samples were then taken. After these exams, the young woman was sent home but her condition worsened very quickly, explains South West. Sepsis is diagnosed on Sunday morning. The patient was more specifically a carrier of type A pyogenic streptococcus, a bacterium that destroys the flesh.
Extremely rare complications
Despite these symptoms, the first antibiotics were not administered until late Sunday afternoon, his state of health was not considered worrying, reports the regional daily. Too late, she said, to prevent infection and slow tissue necrosis. As a result, she had to have both feet, right forearm and left hand amputated. In this case, the complainant considers that more rapid treatment would have made it possible to avoid tissue necrosis, and therefore the amputation of her four limbs. The doctor on duty, an obstetrician-gynecologist, has since been indicted for “unintentional injuries”
According to a study carried out in 2006 in France, the overall rate during a surgical abortion of immediate complications (hemorrhages, uterine perforations, cervical tears) oscillates between 0.01 and 1.16%. Complications are not more numerous than with medical abortion.
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