Elderly woman loses part of her reproductive system in hospital blunder

A 79-year-old woman went into Queen Elizabeth Hospital with heart problems, but ended up with damage to her reproductive organs after staffers botched a routine medical test.

A spokesperson for the hospital publicly admitted the blunder in a statement, obtained by Coconuts HK, on Sunday.

Earlier this month, the patient was set to receive a colon X-ray exam to check whether she would be able to undergo a cardiac intervention procedure and take blood thinners. The test required staffers to insert a rectal catheter and administer a contrast solution.

The catheter was, however, inserted into her vagina.

A doctor discovered the mistake during the exam, when the liquid flowed into her pelvic cavity, instead of her large intestine, and immediately stopped the test.

Doctors then operated on the woman to wash the liquid from her vagina, uterus and Fallopian tubes. They also removed her Fallopian tubes to prevent infection. The woman was finally discharged from the hospital last week.

A spokesperson for Queen Elizabeth Hospital said that an investigation into the parties responsible is still ongoing.

“We are highly concerned with the case and have to improve the process in order to avoid the same incident from happening again,” the spokesperson said, adding that administrators met with the patient and her family to apologize and discuss any future treatment.

However, Tim Pang Hung-cheong, spokesman for the Patients’ Rights Association, criticized how the hospital has handled the case.

“The family is in great anger, both due to the incident and to the way that the hospital responded insincerely,” Pang told Coconuts HK in a message.

“The hospital should tell every detail of the incident to the patient and family members, apologize to the patient in writing, and offer compensation to the patient.”

Pang said that the radiologist responsible for the mistake offered an apology on July 6, but no other details at the time.

He said that at another meeting between the patient and various hospital departments on July 18, no formal apology was given.