讀後心得

An elderly woman in her 80s from Taipei City was hospitalized for pneumonia and, during a CT scan, complained of severe back pain but was not taken seriously. After enduring the pain for nearly three months, she was found to have a fractured spine upon examination. The prosecutor's office has filed a lawsuit against the relevant medical staff, accusing them of causing the elderly woman’s injury during the handling process.

An elderly woman had a spinal brace implanted in the vulnerable area of her spine for about 20 years due to advancing age. In December 2023, she was urgently sent to the hospital due to pneumonia, and the doctor decided to perform a computed tomography (CT) scan on her. However, when she was placed on the examination bed, she experienced severe back pain, which did not draw the attention of the medical staff.

The woman in her 80s endured discomfort for nearly three months, and it was not until the scheduled brace replacement surgery that the orthopedic surgeon discovered her spine had fractured. As a result, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office filed charges against the radiologist and the nurse responsible for performing the CT scan based on medical negligence and injury.

According to the investigation, the elderly woman had a weakened spine due to her advanced age and poor health, having had a brace installed for about 20 years. When she became ill, her high fever prompted her family to take her to the emergency room in Xindian. The doctor suspected she had pneumonia and arranged for a chest CT scan. During the examination, the radiologist and the nurse worked together to lift the elderly woman onto the examination bed, while her family accompanied her. However, after the examination, the woman began to complain of back pain, and the medical staff, focused on her pneumonia issues, failed to notice her spinal condition in a timely manner.

Three months later, the elderly woman went to orthopedics for the spinal brace replacement surgery, and as soon as the surgeon began the operation, he discovered that her spine had suffered external force damage, requiring urgent intervention during the surgery. Since the diagnostic evidence at the time of surgery showed that the woman had suffered external force damage, along with family members recalling that the medical staff seemingly did not secure her properly while moving her to the examination bed, the prosecutor concluded that the radiologist and nurse inadvertently caused her injury during the transport process and thus filed a public prosecution according to the law.