German doctor on trial after woman wakes in morgue

A doctor from North Rhine-Westphalia will face charges for negligence and bodily harm, authorities said on Tuesday – after accidentally sending a living woman to the morgue.

In March this year, a 92-year-old woman awoke to find herself lying in an undertakers’ cooling chamber, reports Berliner Morgenpost. The woman, who was seriously ill, was living in a residential home – and earlier that day, a nurse had discovered she was not breathing.Failing to find a pulse, the nurse called for a doctor – who pronounced the woman dead.

Relatives were called to say their final goodbyes, before the woman was transported to a mortuary. But that evening, she awoke. She began calling for help, and the alarmed undertaker heard her screams. The undertaker quickly alerted doctors, and the woman was taken to hospital, where she died two days later.

The woman’s death is unrelated to the fact she spent numerous hours in the cooling chamber, the prosecution said.

However, the doctor who wrongly pronounced the woman dead is now due to appear in Gelsenkirchen Magistrates’ Court, charged with bodily harm caused by negligence.

A date for the trial has not yet been set.

Aource of the article: thelocal.de

Pin It