A doctor performed an abortion on the wrong woman in South Korea after mixing up two patients.
The victim, from Vietnam, visited a hospital in the Gangseo district, Seoul, where doctors confirmed she was six weeks pregnant on August 7, the Korean Times reports.
She was told she needed a nutritional injection but a nurse reportedly injected her with an anaesthetic instead.
The nurse also allegedly had the wrong patient’s chart which was for another woman who needed an abortion because of a missed miscarriage where the foetus had died but had not miscarried yet.
A doctor is believed to have then performed the surgery on the wrong woman without checking her patient chart.
The patient was unaware she had been given an abortion until she noticed some bleeding and another doctor confirmed it.
The Gangseo Police Station announced it was investigating the incident on Monday.
A doctor and a nurse were detained at a hospital in western Seoul on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in injury, according to the Korean Times.
The case will soon be sent to the prosecutor’s office, a police spokesperson reportedly told CNN.
“The doctor and nurse have acknowledged their fault,” police said.
Abortion is illegal in South Korea, apart from in certain cases, such as rape or incest, or when the foetus could be life-threatening for the mother.
Women who terminate a pregnancy can face fines of up to two million South Korean won (£1,340) or one year in prison, while medical professionals can face prison terms of up to two years.
(www.newsnow.co.uk)
