Medical nurse sentenced to 18 months in prison for accidentally killing patient

RIGA - The Riga City Court on Monday handed down a prison sentence of 18 months to a medical nurse from the Children’s Clinical University Hospital (BKUS) who, last November, accidentally killed a patient by mixing up medications.

As an additional penalty, the nurse was barred from practicing medicine for four years.

However, the court ruled not to award EUR 500,000 in moral damages claimed by the victim’s family.

Judge Imants Dzenis explained that, after reviewing the case law cited by the defense, the court concluded that awarding compensation for moral damages in this case would be premature. The victim's family therefore should be given the opportunity to seek compensation through civil proceedings.

The defendant’s legal representative noted that the defense would consider appealing the judgment and requested that a full written judgment be prepared. She emphasized that legal considerations suggest that actual imprisonment might not be applicable as a punishment for the defendant.

During the trial, the judge imposed on the defendant the base sentence and additional penalty requested by the prosecution, so the prosecutor currently sees no grounds for appealing the verdict, LETA learned from the prosecutor’s office.

The parties to the case may request that the court prepare a full judgment, and, once received, the judgment may be appealed within ten weekdays.

Information in the court calendar indicates that the defendant is Jelena Ugurenko. The nurse has admitted her guilt and expressed remorse, the defendant’s defense lawyer Aldis Liepins previously told reporters.

He noted that the medication mix-up had been a "fatal coincidence of circumstances" and a great misfortune. He also said that no one becomes a medical nurse with the intention of causing such a tragedy.

As reported, the nurse was charged with negligent performance of her professional duties, which, due to her carelessness, resulted in the death of a minor, the Prosecutor’s Office informed LETA.

The prosecutor’s office notes that the defendant, as a healthcare professional, prepared a sodium bicarbonate solution prescribed by a doctor during her shift in late November of last year for administration to the patient the following day. According to the indictment, by negligently performing her professional duties, the nurse failed to verify that the medication had been prepared correctly, as, while preparing the infusion bag, instead of a sodium bicarbonate solution, she prepared a potassium chloride solution but labeled it "Sodium Bicarbonate."

The next morning, the patient began receiving the incorrectly prepared solution. Shortly thereafter, she began complaining of dizziness and difficulty breathing.

Despite resuscitation efforts, the patient’s life could not be saved. Due to the administration of the potassium-containing solution, the child suffered irreversible cardiac arrest, resulting in her death.

Currently, the defendant is subject to a non-custodial security measure, as well as a prohibition on practicing her profession as an additional security measure.