The Dijon prosecutor’s office opened an investigation after the death of a 77-year-old patient at the city’s university hospital in August 2022, he told franceinfo on Tuesday November 8. During a press conference, the management of the CHU assured that it would transmit “all the necessary information” to justice.
This patient was hospitalized for a broken leg at the end of August. His stay in the hospital lasted longer than expected because his operation was postponed several times. The septuagenarian ended up dying in the hospital, before being operated on. His two children have filed a complaint, according to franceinfo, confirming information from the newspaper The Public Good. They told BFMTV that their mother died of starvation, as she had been kept on an empty stomach while awaiting her operation.
During their press conference on Tuesday evening, the three members of the Dijon University Hospital refused to publicly detail the precise circumstances of their patient’s death, citing respect for medical secrecy and the proper conduct of the investigation.
Nevertheless, the head of the orthopedic surgery department Emmanuel Baulot assured that, if she was well “maintained on an empty stomach for several successive days, (…) this was checked. After each successive postponement, meals were ordered, meals were distributed and these facts were traced in the file”. He explains the postponements of the operation by the lack “obvious” staff at the end of August.
Lucie Ligier, the deputy director general of the establishment, believes that the investigation opened by the prosecution “must allow us collectively to understand what led to the feelings of this family and the evolution of the situation of the care of the family. It is a complex medical file which requires an expert look.”
“We very much welcome the realization of this investigation. We will accompany and we will transmit all the information necessary for its good realization.”
Lucie Ligier, Deputy Director General of Dijon University Hospitalat franceinfo
She specifies that even before the opening of this judicial investigation, the CHU had already carried out an initial analysis of this case. “from the beginning of September”. He also, as is customary to do, warned the Regional Health Agency of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of the death of the septuagenarian. An autopsy has been performed on the patient’s body but the results are not yet known. The CHU says it is at the disposal of the family to accompany them in their bereavement.