ITALY’S health minister has apologized for a brawl between two doctors in a delivery room that may have resulted in brain damage to the newborn, the news agency ANSA reported.
ANSA said five people were under investigation, including the two doctors, and prosecutors were trying to determine if their fistfight led to complications or a damaging delay in the birth at a public hospital in Messina.
The 30-year-old mother, Laura Salpietro, had to have her uterus removed after hemorrhaging during the birth last Thursday, ANSA said.
Her son, Antonio, had two heart attacks and is in critical condition. ANSA said it would not be clear for some time if he suffered brain damage.
Reports at the time said that after a heated exchange of words, one of the doctors seized his colleague by the neck and shoved him into a wall, according to the husband’s account to police. The other doctor reacted by punching a window, which shattered, injuring his hand.
The clinic immediately suspended the two doctors and officials initially said there was no link between the fight and the birth complications. ANSA said the doctors were apparently fighting over which of them should perform the cesarean section.
“I apologize to the lady and her family for what happened in the name of the doctors and of the health service, and I say that as a doctor myself,” ANSA quoted Italian Health Minister Ferruccio Fazio as saying after visiting Salpietro.
“I tried to give the family some words of comfort and reassure them that the state will support them.”
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