The daughter of a Russian woman who was rushed to the hospital with hypertension, then had her leg burnt and amputated before dying from COVID complications, said she intends to take the medical facility to court for neglect.
The 62-year-old woman, from the Tuva region, called an ambulance in mid-January after suffering from a spike in blood pressure. She was rushed to a hospital in Kyzyl on suspicion of a heart attack but was accidentally admitted to the urology department despite not having any urological issues, the Russian news outlet 360 reported.
Her daughter, Ailana, told the outlet that staff placed her mother near a radiator and she ultimately burned her leg. She said that the hospital didn't inform her of her mother's injury and claimed that "they didn't treat [the burn] at all for 15-16 days."
The injury intensified due to the woman also having type 2 diabetes, with the site of the wound going septic, according to the Tuva Prosector's Office, which is investigating the daughter's complaints. As a result, the woman had to have her foot and lower leg amputated.
But this was not the end of the woman's struggles. Following the amputation, the woman developed a fever. Ailana had asked that she be seen multiple times, alleging that she was ignored. While in recovery, her mother came into contact with a patient infected with COVID-19. She ultimately died from complications of the virus.
"[The hospital staff] did not respond to our complaints at all. Only on March 7 did they begin to worry, on March 8 they put her in intensive care. She stayed in intensive care for eight days, then she died, " Ailana told 360.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, according to the Tuva prosecutor's office.
"The prosecutor's office of the city of Kyzyl sent the materials of the check to the investigating authorities to resolve the issue of criminal prosecution against the facts of the grossest violation of the standards of medical care and the unfair performance of their duties by medical workers," the department said.
A criminal case has been opened under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: "Causing death by negligence due to improper performance by a person of his professional duties."
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