Pregnant woman loses baby/ Tirana Prosecution charges 2 doctors for negligence

2025-10-29 10:58:00, Aktualitet CNA

The Tirana Prosecutor's Office has decided to take two obstetrician-gynecologists as defendants, after a pregnant woman lost her baby due to a lack of timely response during treatment as a patient.

Citizens EK and IM are charged with the criminal offense of 'Neglect in Medical Treatment'.

The incident took place at the "Koço Gliozheni" maternity hospital in Tirana.

Announcement:

The Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction, Tirana, charges citizens EK and IM with the criminal offense of 'Neglect in medical treatment' provided for by Article 96/2 of the Criminal Code, both of whom are obstetrician-gynecologists.

From the investigations into criminal proceedings no. 225, of 2023, initiated after the denunciation of citizen GS, it resulted that these two doctors have shown careless and negligent behavior that includes failure to respect standard protocols, failure to monitor vital signs, and failure to respond to worrying changes in the patient's condition.

More specifically, the investigations revealed that doctor IM did not open and maintain the medical records for citizen GS's pregnancy, despite having performed examinations and followed the case for a long period of time.

Despite the patient's constant concerns, this doctor did not react by not performing additional detailed examinations. This behavior directly led to the most serious consequences, namely the birth of a premature baby with serious health problems and her death, as well as the serious endangerment of the mother's life and health.

In the conditions where the IM doctor was neglecting her, despite her concerns and her deteriorating condition without any improvement, the patient also turned to the EK doctor to continue monitoring her pregnancy.

But this doctor also committed a series of actions and omissions that constitute serious violations of her professional and health duties, seriously endangering the life and health of the complainant and the child. During the time she was attending to her, the patient showed severe symptoms that were a clear signal of a serious pathological condition, later identified as severe pre-eclampsia. However, the doctor did not take any appropriate medical measures to treat or prevent the deterioration of this condition despite visits to the private clinic.

Also, there is no document proving that the patient's vital parameters, such as blood pressure or body weight, were measured during this period. If standards had been followed, these measurements would have been documented and would have served as a basis for medical decision-making.

The Prosecution Body assesses that the complete lack of medical history, which serves to continue treatment, is in itself a sufficient indicator of the non-implementation of the legal and ethical obligations that a medical professional has towards the patient.

Finally, it cannot be overlooked that the patient was admitted to the “Koço Gliozheni” maternity hospital with a serious diagnosis of advanced pre-eclampsia, and that her condition had progressed to such a point that it required immediate termination of the pregnancy. This situation was a direct result of the lack of proper medical follow-up and the failure to take preventive measures by the doctors who had previously treated her, EK and IM.

Regarding the above, the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction, Tirana, considers that the actions/inactions of obstetricians EK and IM meet all the criteria required by Albanian criminal legislation to qualify these actions as elements of the criminal offense of "Neglect in medical treatment", provided for by Article 96/2 of the Criminal Code. /CNA