67-year-old man dies after being wrongly diagnosed with 'pregnancy complications'

By Duc Hung October 23, 2016 | 09:22 pm PT

People stand in front of a hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam on March 24, 2016. Photo by Reuters/ Nguyen Huy Kham.

The patient died while being transferred to a different hospital.

A 67-year-old man from the central province of Ha Tinh has died after being diagnosed with asthma caused by high blood pressure and “complications related to pregnancy” at a district hospital.

Nguyen Dinh Truong was suffering from fatigue, and was later moved to the emergency room for high-blood pressure treatment.

At midnight, doctors decided to transfer him to the province’s general hospital after he showed signs of getting weaker and broke into a sweat. He reportedly died on the way to hospital.

The family has lodged a complaint against the team of doctors who wrongly diagnosed the 67-year-old man as having “complications related to pregnancy”.

Following the incident, the hospital in Loc Ha District admitted the incident was caused by a negligent nurse who filled the paperwork for his transfer, said the hospital's director.

He explained that the nurse had printed the wrong code on the paperwork, and that the patient's death was not due to medical malpractice.

The hospital has temporarily suspended the nurse from work while health authorities conduct further investigations.

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