Representational Image
Pau:
A Belgian anesthetist, who admitted drinking vodka before taking part in a Caesarean in which a woman of British origin died in France, was granted bail today.
Helga Wauters, 45, was ordered to pay $62,000 and was forbidden from leaving the country or practicing medicine.
She was also ordered to attend a centre for alcoholics.
"This is a regrettable decision which will be difficult to accept," said a lawyer for the victim's family, Philippe Courtois.
Wauters had been remanded in custody since October 2 after being charged with involuntary manslaughter in a case that has made headlines in France.
She had an initial request for bail denied later that month.
Investigative judges have quoted her as saying that she drank half a 500 ml bottle of a mixture of vodka and water on the night of the incident.
"I was not drunk, I was at 70 per cent of my capacities... I need vodka so that I don't shake," she was quoted as saying.
On September 26, Wauters was called to duty when the 28-year-old woman went into labour in the town of Orthez near Pau, in southern France.
She told judges she gave the woman an epidural and went to drink "a glass of rose" with some friends.
However, the labour did not go as planned and it became clear the woman would need a Caesarean. The medical team called the anesthetist, who arrived on foot and smelled of alcohol.
While preparing the anesthetic, her behaviour was reported as "weird" by her colleagues, the court heard.
Things quickly took a dramatic turn in the operating room.
While trying to ventilate the patient, Wauters inserted a tube into her oesophagus instead of her windpipe.
Emergency services were called and found "a patient in cardiac arrest, cyanotic (blue) and people present who were doing nothing," according to witnesses quoted by the court.
The patient was taken to a hospital in Pau where she died four days later. The baby survived.
When the anesthetist reported to police a day later she had 2.4 grams of alcohol per litre of blood, nearly five times the legal limit in France.
She admitted to suffering "a pathological alcohol problem."
At her home, investigators found 17 empty bottles of vodka.
Helga Wauters, 45, was ordered to pay $62,000 and was forbidden from leaving the country or practicing medicine.
She was also ordered to attend a centre for alcoholics.
"This is a regrettable decision which will be difficult to accept," said a lawyer for the victim's family, Philippe Courtois.
Wauters had been remanded in custody since October 2 after being charged with involuntary manslaughter in a case that has made headlines in France.
She had an initial request for bail denied later that month.
Investigative judges have quoted her as saying that she drank half a 500 ml bottle of a mixture of vodka and water on the night of the incident.
"I was not drunk, I was at 70 per cent of my capacities... I need vodka so that I don't shake," she was quoted as saying.
On September 26, Wauters was called to duty when the 28-year-old woman went into labour in the town of Orthez near Pau, in southern France.
She told judges she gave the woman an epidural and went to drink "a glass of rose" with some friends.
However, the labour did not go as planned and it became clear the woman would need a Caesarean. The medical team called the anesthetist, who arrived on foot and smelled of alcohol.
While preparing the anesthetic, her behaviour was reported as "weird" by her colleagues, the court heard.
Things quickly took a dramatic turn in the operating room.
While trying to ventilate the patient, Wauters inserted a tube into her oesophagus instead of her windpipe.
Emergency services were called and found "a patient in cardiac arrest, cyanotic (blue) and people present who were doing nothing," according to witnesses quoted by the court.
The patient was taken to a hospital in Pau where she died four days later. The baby survived.
When the anesthetist reported to police a day later she had 2.4 grams of alcohol per litre of blood, nearly five times the legal limit in France.
She admitted to suffering "a pathological alcohol problem."
At her home, investigators found 17 empty bottles of vodka.
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