Four Italian doctors have been put under house arrest and seven others suspended after they were accused of falsifying accounts of their medical mistakes in an obstetrics unit, including missteps that led to the deaths of two children and an abortion being given to a woman without her consent.
The doctors and other medical staff at the Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli hospital in the southern region of Reggio Calabria are accused of seeking to hide evidence of their errors in order to avoid legal culpability.
The alleged malpractice included separate incidents that led to the deaths of two children, one abortion that was performed without consent, mistakes that led to permanent damage of another newborn, and a number of lacerations and other injuries to women during their deliveries.
The allegations were uncovered in part by wiretaps put in place to aid investigators who were examining the notorious ‘Ndrangheta mafia which is based in Reggio Calabria. One of the doctors ensnared, Alessandro Tripodi, is the cousin of Giorgio De Stefano, the late crime boss.
The financial police said that, apart from placing the doctors on house arrest, six other doctors and a midwife had their licences temporarily suspended because of their alleged involvement in a scheme to fabricate medical records in order to hide mistakes.
The police said the precautionary measure of putting the doctors under house arrest was made at the request of the local prosecutor, who is investigating the incidents. The alleged wrongdoing was said to have occurred a few years ago.
Beatrice Lorenzin, Italy’s health minister, announced on Thursday that she was signing an agreement with Raffaele Cantone, who heads the anti-corruption unit in Italy, for a new taskforce that would examine corruption in the healthcare sector.
