An Algerian court sentenced six members of a medical team to between six to 12 months in jail for “negligence” that caused the death of a pregnant woman and her unborn baby.
According to local radio, the Aïn Oussara court in Djelfa Province sentenced the medical team after a mother died as a result of complications in childbirth after she was refused medical treatment. The court found that the team’s “negligence and irresponsibility” had led to the death of the mother and her unborn child.
A female doctor was jailed for one year and fined 200,000 dinars ($2,000).
The same court also sentenced three midwives, a medical observer and a medical representative to six months in jail and fined them between 50,000-100,000 dinars ($500-$1,000).
The head of the medical team at the Aïn Oussara Hospital was acquitted but he was fined 16,000 dinars ($160).
The defendants can appeal the rulings.
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The medical team had been charged with “committing accidental death that resulted from negligence and irresponsibility”; “not following regulations”; and the misdemeanour of “deliberately refusing to assist a person in a dangerous situation”.
The case dates back to 26 July when 23-year-old Saida Ismail died of complications during childbirth in her husband’s car after three hospitals in Djelfa Province refused to take her in. According to her husband the hospitals had claimed she was not yet due to deliver.
After the incident, the Algerian Ministry of Health announced that it would conduct an investigation into the case and it would prosecute the perpetrators.
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