In February 2016, a 34-year-old woman from Rémoise died due to a nine-month pregnancy that was undetected by four different doctors. His family’s complaint was dismissed on the grounds that “no offense seems to be able to be characterized”.
Since the revelations made on the Death of Noami Musenga, who died at the end of December after contacting the Strasbourg Samu who had made fun of her on the phone and had not moved, testimonies relating to acts of negligence abound. But this time, the responsibility is attributed to the medical services directly.
On February 26, 2016, Alexandra, a 34-year-old resident of Rémoise, died due to an undetected nine-month pregnancy. “We learned that Alexandra had died of a generalized infection linked to an ectopic pregnancy, when she did not know she was pregnant. Nine months! Her baby was also dead”, tells her father Pascal Surrey at The union. But how could a nine-month pregnancy go unnoticed? “My daughter was very strong, that’s why we didn’t notice anything, but why did the doctors miss it? She had seen several in the previous days”.
Timeline of a series of medical errors
Indeed, Alexandra consulted a gynecologist at the end of 2015 when the first pains appeared, but the latter diagnosed a simple “mycosis”. On February 18, 2017, suffering from “intense stomach pain”, she consulted a general practitioner who again missed the pregnancy. Two days later, she went to the emergency room which reported “cystitis”.
On February 23, the young woman went to SOS Médecins who diagnosed her this time with “hemorrhoidal thrombosis”, that is to say a clot in the hemorrhoids. Four consultations, four different doctors and none of them notice that Alexandra is pregnant. Then sHer condition worsened very quickly: she had haemorrhages on February 24 and 25, could neither get up nor urinate. The next day, the firefighters transport her to the emergency room in a comatose state, it is already too late. Alexandra dies the same afternoon. The autopsy report confirms the presence of a “viable fetus […] died in utero”. According to the medical examiners, Alexandra would have died of a probable fatal infection due to “the retention of the dead egg which caused septic shock”.
The Reims public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for “research into the causes of death” and the family of the young woman filed a complaint against X for “involuntary homicide”, but this was dismissed on the grounds “that no offense does not seem to be characterized”. According to the dad, however, an ultrasound would have been enough to save his daughter…
.
