Fined 50 million VND for performing abortion leading to death of pregnant woman in Nghe An

Clarifying the case of abortion leading to death in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - The abortionist, who had no medical expertise, admitted to placing a catheter into the pregnant woman's uterus and then giving her spinach juice to drink.

People of Chau Phong commune held a funeral for Ms. Vi Thi Khuyen. Photo: Internet

Information from the Nghe An Department of Health said that on March 20, the Department sent a working group led by the Director of the Reproductive Health Care Center to Chau Phong commune to investigate the incident.

Through investigation and verification, Ms. Dinh Thi Thanh - the person who performed the abortion for the pregnant woman had no professional training. The reason Ms. Thanh was able to insert a catheter into the pregnant woman's uterus was because Ms. Thanh's mother was a village health worker. Ms. Thanh "learned from experience" and then "created" and directly performed the abortion on herself as well as catheterizing her husband.

Also on March 20, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district issued a decision to administratively fine Ms. Dinh Thi Thanh 50 million VND for the act of "Providing medical examination and treatment services without a business license or during the period of suspension of operation" as prescribed in Point a, Section 6, Article 29, Decree 176/2013 on Regulations on administrative sanctions in the health sector.

On the morning of March 26, the Nghe An Department of Health's Professional Council will directly listen to the working group's more specific report on the incident. Thereby, the Professional Council will propose additional penalties (if any).

As reported by Nghe An Newspaper: At 8:00 a.m. on March 12, 2018, Ms. Dinh Thi Thanh performed an abortion for Ms. Vi Thi Khuyen (born in 1988, in Dom 2 village, Chau Phong commune, Quy Chau district) at home by placing 2/3 of the length of a folay catheter - a urinary catheter, without water or air.

After placing the order, Ms. Thanh gave Ms. Khuyen some spinach leaf juice and instructed her on how to use it. Ms. Thanh let Ms. Khuyen rest at Ms. Truong Thi Lien's house (Ms. Khuyen's mother) in the same Ban 2 village and went there to monitor.

After the abortion, Ms. Khuyen experienced many poor and critical health conditions. Her family took her to Quy Chau Medical Center, then transferred her to Tay Bac General Hospital for treatment, but Ms. Khuyen did not survive and died at 6:00 p.m. on March 15, 2018.