Doctors in central Russia have mistakenly amputated a Holocaust survivor’s healthy leg, prompting investigators to open an inquiry into the botched surgery, local media have reported.
Surgeons in Voronezh performed an amputation on Maria Dronova, 89, to prevent her gangrene from spreading, her son Andrei Dronov told local media.
“My wife and I were allowed to go to her ward. We entered and found out that… they amputated the other leg,” he told the bloknot-voronezh.ru news website Tuesday. “Not the right [leg] but her left [leg] up to her midthigh!”
Dronova’s son accused hospital staff of altering her physical, “where they wrote that both of my mother’s feet were black.”
“We have photos taken 24 hours beforehand where you can clearly see that one foot is black and the other is light,” he was quoted as saying.
Dronov notes that doctors performed the emergency operation on Sunday, Nov. 4, despite the fact that it was a public holiday (National Unity Day).
Investigators said they have carried out a thorough inspection into the incident, including seizing medical paperwork and interrogating the doctors.
“We will make a procedural decision based on the results of the initial inquiry,” the Investigative Committee’s Voronezh branch said in an online statement Wednesday.
Regional doctors are being investigated for another mistaken double amputation close to New Year’s Eve last year that resulted in the death of a 94-year-old World War II veteran, local media reported.
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