Type O Patient Given Type A Blood in University Hospital Emergency Room... Eventually Dies

[Financial News] Two years ago, a type O patient was mistakenly given a transfusion of type A blood in the emergency room of a university hospital. The patient ultimately died about a month later.
According to a report by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) on the 18th, a woman in her 50s, identified as Patient A, suffered aftereffects following a traffic accident in late 2023. She suffered cardiac arrest while undergoing rehabilitation treatment the following year and was transferred to a university hospital emergency room in Seoul.
Patient A’s older brother said, "The person in the emergency room said it was 'a stroke of luck,' because amid the medical crisis, hospitals were no longer accepting patients properly."
However, Patient A’s older brother noticed an unfamiliar blood type on his sister’s patient wristband. Although she had type O blood, the wristband identified her as having type A blood.
A retest showed that she had type O blood, but type A blood had already been transfused.
Patient A’s condition deteriorated, and she died a month later. Her family filed a complaint against the medical staff on suspicion of occupational manslaughter through negligence.
A police investigation found that the blood type had been switched after Patient A’s barcode was attached to another patient’s blood sample.
However, police decided not to refer the case to prosecutors, citing staff shortages caused by the residents’ strike at the time and the fact that the patient had already been in critical condition.
The hospital said, "It is true that there was a problem with the transfusion," but explained, "The patient was in critical condition, and it happened during an emergency treatment process."
The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office, which received the case records, asked police to reinvestigate the case.
[email protected] Ahn Ga-eul Reporter