Nurse's baby death conviction confirmed
Sweden's Supreme Court has convicted a nurse from Kalmar of manslaughter after a baby died when she gave it the wrong medicine.
The verdict confirms a ruling in the appeal court. The woman has been given a suspended sentence and fined 50 days' salary.
The incident occurred in 2002, when she mixed up two bottles of antispasmodic medicine, resulting in the child receiving more than ten times the normal dose.
The court ruled that while there were serious failings in the hospitals routines, these did not limit the nurse's own responsibility.
The nurse made a mistake, either reading, seeing, or measuring incorrectly when she mixed the medicine, in a situation where a potent pharmaceutical was being administered to a baby. Such a situation requires consideration, control and attention, the court wrote in its judgment.
The court said it could not take into consideration the fact that there is a special disciplinary procedure for healthcare professionals.
The healthcare workers' union (Vårdfacket) had criticized the fact that the nurse's case was being heard by criminal courts rather than by the Medical Responsibility Board.
TT/The Local
TT/The Local
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The verdict confirms a ruling in the appeal court. The woman has been given a suspended sentence and fined 50 days' salary.
The incident occurred in 2002, when she mixed up two bottles of antispasmodic medicine, resulting in the child receiving more than ten times the normal dose.
The court ruled that while there were serious failings in the hospitals routines, these did not limit the nurse's own responsibility.
The nurse made a mistake, either reading, seeing, or measuring incorrectly when she mixed the medicine, in a situation where a potent pharmaceutical was being administered to a baby. Such a situation requires consideration, control and attention, the court wrote in its judgment.
The court said it could not take into consideration the fact that there is a special disciplinary procedure for healthcare professionals.
The healthcare workers' union (Vårdfacket) had criticized the fact that the nurse's case was being heard by criminal courts rather than by the Medical Responsibility Board.
TT/The Local
TT/The Local
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