250 Swedish Children Need Heart Re-examinations After Doctor Error
Hundreds of Swedish children with heart conditions need re-examination after a doctor wrongly declared them healthy. Six children require surgery, but officials say all can fully recover. The doctor has since moved to another region.
Approximately 250 Swedish children with heart conditions will undergo new medical examinations. This follows revelations that a doctor incorrectly cleared them as healthy. An investigation shows the physician wrongly declared at least 78 children free of heart problems at Ryhov County Hospital in Jönköping.
Nearly half of these children require continued monitoring. Six children now need heart surgery. Hospital officials confirm the operations can still help them fully recover.
Simon Rundqvist, head of the children's clinic in Jönköping, addressed the situation. "It is not too late to operate," he said during a press conference. "We assess that all children will recover completely."
Medical staff have already examined nearly 500 children previously cleared by the doctor. Another 250 children who received treatment from the same physician will now get new checkups.
The doctor involved was considered highly skilled in pediatric cardiology. They no longer works in Jönköping and has moved to Region Skåne in southern Sweden. Hospital management has kept the doctor informed about the ongoing investigation.
This case reveals serious flaws in medical oversight systems. When one professional's errors go undetected for so long, it puts vulnerable patients at unnecessary risk.