Stavropol Territory: criminal case opened on child's death in hospital

The Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case on the fact of death of a newborn in one of the hospitals in the Stavropol Territory.

According to the investigation, on February 5, 2009, a mother of 20 gave birth to a girl in the Kochubei District Hospital. On that very day the child died.

According to the conclusions of the commission set up by the Stavropol Ministry of Public Health, the death of the child could be prevented. Standards of supervising the pregnant woman were failed; there was no control over the work of the obstetric-gynaecologic service of the hospital. The death was caused by pathology as a result of oxygen insufficiency, incomplete expansion of lungs and a complication of pregnancy and delivery in breech presentation.

The "Caucasian Knot" has informed that in November 2008 in the Krasnodar Territory, the Prosecutor's Office also initiated a criminal case on the death of a newborn, who died in hospital. According to investigation, the baby died because of incorrectly inserted catheter.

According to Ekaterina Danilova, Senior Assistant of the Head of the Regional Investigatory Division of Russian ICPO, the actions of the obstetrician-gynaecologist who observed the woman during pregnancy, whose daughter died in the Stavropol Territory, were qualified under the article of manslaughter, as the "Interfax" reports.