Horrific medical error in Hungary: saline solution switched with disinfectant, patient dies

The Szigetvár District Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against three people. The persons used disinfectant instead of saline solution during an operation. This horrible medical error caused the death of the patient, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Two of the defendants work as surgical assistants in the hospital where the surgery was performed. The third defendant works as a specialist, Telex reports.

The fatal error

Back in May 2020, they were preparing for a gynaecological surgery at the hospital. Before the surgery, the two accused operating room assistants brought disinfectant into the operating room to clean the room. However, only 5-litre jerrycans of disinfectant were found in the storage room. Therefore, the two assistants decided to transfer it to a smaller bottle: a top-labelled bottle originally containing saline solution.

After the exchange, the two men put the saline bottle containing the disinfectant in the operating room lobby. They placed it on the table where the surgical instruments were stored. They both forgot that the bottle was there. They only found out the next day, during the operation, when they needed to use saline solution, but used the switched bottle, which was actually containing disinfectant.