Posted on 01/20/2026 1:08:56 AM PST by Morgana
Russian police have arrested the chief physician and the acting head of intensive care at a Siberian hospital where nine babies died this month, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The case, which has shone a spotlight on chronic staff shortages and funding gaps in the country's medical system, has provoked anger and bewilderment from Russian politicians and online commentators.
Prosecutors have charged the pair with negligence and causing death through negligence, Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.
The exact causes of the deaths at Novokuznetsk Maternity Hospital No. 1 are not yet known. But regional health authorities said the babies were all suffering from a range of diseases and died during childbirth or pregnancy.
The local health ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that 234 children were born at the hospital between Dec. 1 and Jan. 11, with 17 babies considered to be in a serious condition in the hospital's intensive care unit.
"Of the 17 infants in a critical condition, 16 of them were premature, including those with extremely low birth weight. All 17 had a severe intrauterine infection," the health ministry statement said. "Unfortunately, nine children did not survive."
The Reuters news agency, citing the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper, reported that the hospital received at least five warnings from health authorities between August and November last year.
Pavel Vorobyov, a Russian doctor, questioned why no action was taken earlier, Reuters reported.
"With the first death, they (doctors and nurses) should have bust a gut and started doing something... when nine people have died and everyone is silent, something very strange is going on," Argumenty i Fakty quoted him as saying.
The hospital announced on Tuesday that it had stopped accepting patients due to a high rate of respiratory infection.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
“Russia takes pro-life very seriously.”
Fascinating. How can we support President Putin ??
The Russian abortion rate is 14.6 per 1,000 women compared to the American 15.4
Yes it does. Sad to say Russia takes a lot of things seriously. I have a lot of respect for them.
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