A 66-year-old woman who suffered from pancreatic cancer died a week after being set on fire during a surgery, Romania’s health ministry has confirmed, while promising an investigation into this “unfortunate incident.”The patient died Sunday after suffering burns to 40 per cent of her body. The fire was ignited by surgeons using an electric scalpel, after the woman was prepped with an alcohol-based disinfectant in preparation for the removal of a tumour on Dec. 22. The incident took place at Floreasca Hospital in Bucharest, where the patient was hospitalized to undergo a surgery on her pancreas. When the electric scalpel was used in close proximity with the flammable substance, combustion happened and her body caught fire. In 2016, a fire at a Romanian nightclub left 64 people dead, 38 of whom died from later complications; it is alleged the deaths occurred due to poorly equipped Romanian hospitals.

Source: National Post December 31, 2019 14:15 UTC