Embalming fluid error kills patient in Russian hospital

Image source, Science Photo Library

Image caption, Doctors spotted the error but could not save the patient's life

Russian authorities are prosecuting doctors who accidentally gave a woman a fatal dose of formaldehyde instead of saline after an operation.

A senior doctor at the Ulyanovsk hospital, Vladimir Demin, has been sacked, Russian media say. Formaldehyde is used for embalming corpses.

The region's health minister said the team had tried to rectify the error by giving the patient 10 litres of saline.

The 28-year-old died in intensive care after being moved to a Moscow hospital.

Ulyanovsk is a city on the River Volga, 876km (544 miles) east of Moscow.

Russia's Vesti news reports that the fatal error took place on 15 March, when Yekaterina Fedyaeva received a dose of formaldehyde instead of saline in the abdomen.

She died on 5 April, despite having come out of a coma.

The mistake happened when she was recovering from surgery to remove an ovarian cyst.

Ulyanovsk Health Minister Rashid Abdullov, quoted by Russia's Federal Press, said "urgent steps should have been taken, the information should have been reported immediately... time was wasted".