Belgian Doctors Acquitted in 2011 Death of 14-Year-Old Girl After Misdiagnosis

The events date back to 2011. Imane, a 14-year-old Moroccan girl, was experiencing severe abdominal pain at night. Suspecting appendicitis, her family doctor had directed the teenager and her parents to the emergency room of the Saint-Luc University Clinics. She was examined by a first-year medical intern and then allowed to return home. This doctor had recommended that her parents treat her with Fortimel, Motilium and Dafalgan. But Imane’s health did not improve. A second-year general practitioner came to treat her at home. He had simply issued her a three-day medical certificate. The young girl was admitted to another hospital, where she died of acute peritonitis diagnosed too late.

The teenager’s parents had filed a complaint with the Brussels public prosecutor’s office after her death. An expert report indicts the Saint-Luc Clinics. They contest it on the grounds that it had been carried out in a non-contradictory manner and thus violated the rights of the defense. An argument that was rejected, as the accused had the right to make their observations and request additional investigations.

The Brussels Correctional Court acquitted in mid-June the Saint-Luc University Clinics, the Maritime Medical Center and two doctors prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter due to lack of foresight or precaution, reports La Dernière Heure. According to it, the diagnostic errors are of the kind that any young doctor could have made. The assistant doctors at the Saint-Luc University Clinics and the Maritime Medical Center were criticized for a lack of supervision. According to the court, "the reproach does not sufficiently emerge from the debates and the file."