Bacău doctor gets warning after patient sent home with pharyngitis died of heart attack

The Bacău College of Physicians has issued a warning to a doctor after finding fault in the case of a 67-year-old woman who died of a heart attack in October 2021, four days after being sent home from the emergency department with a diagnosis of pharyngitis.

The woman arrived at the Bacău County Emergency Hospital on 12 October 2021 by ambulance, reporting chest pain, nausea and vomiting. According to her son, she waited three hours for triage before being seen by Dr Laura Cristina Vrabie, who diagnosed acute pharyngitis and suspected COVID-19. She was prescribed ibuprofen and an antibiotic and sent home the same day.

On 16 October, the woman collapsed at home in cardiac arrest. Paramedics arrived after 25 minutes but were unable to revive her. The official cause of death was an acute myocardial infarction. Her son, who has pursued the case for five years, later consulted three other doctors who reviewed the electrocardiograms taken in the ambulance and at the hospital. All three identified signs of a heart attack on the traces.

The College of Physicians' investigation concluded that the emergency doctor failed to request a cardiology consultation despite the ECG findings, which showed a suspected acute myocardial infarction. The college found a direct causal link between that omission and the woman's death, but imposed only a warning as a sanction. The doctor continues to work in the same emergency department.

A separate criminal investigation by the Bacău Prosecutor's Office was closed because an autopsy had not been performed, making it impossible to establish the exact medical cause of death with certainty. The woman had worked as a nurse at the same hospital for 42 years before retiring.