Another pregnant woman died immediately after giving birth at the private hospital in Constanța, eight years ago. What happened since then

A 29-year-old mother died, in Constanța, shortly after giving birth, in the Armonia private hospital. Eight years ago, another young woman died, also after giving birth in the same private hospital. It was then called Isis. HotNews wanted to know what stage this file is at.

• For almost 8 years, Teodora Mocanu's family has been waiting for the criminal investigation in this case, in which two doctors are suspects, to determine whether she died due to a medical error.
• “In January next year, the possible criminal liability risks being time-barred,” says Flavia Tutovanu, the family's lawyer, in a dialogue with HotNews.
• HotNews repeatedly tried to get a reaction from the clinic, including after Mădălina's death last week, but without success.

The Armonia hospital, from Constanța county, is in the middle of an inspection by the Ministry of Health, which wants to check how it received the authorization to operate. It is an extensive control, which comes after the death of a 29-year-old woman – Mădălina, a young woman from Giurgiu county, who had a high-risk pregnancy and suffered complications after giving birth.

A first check by the Ministry of Health revealed that the hospital does not have an Anesthesia – Intensive Care department and that it is classified as a second-degree maternity hospital, which can only manage patients without complications, according to the Ministry of Health report, obtained and consulted by HotNews.

HotNews repeatedly tried to get a reaction from the clinic. The private hospital reacted on Facebook, where it stated that it is “licensed and fully equipped, including ATI ward, fully equipped and fully functional”.

It was the only message from the Armonia private hospital. The hospital is called that since 2021. Before it was called the Isis hospital, and under this name it came to the center of attention in 2018.

On the morning of January 24, 2018, Teodora Mocanu (35 years old), died at the County Hospital in Constanța, following a massive hemorrhage suffered after giving birth to a healthy child at the Isis private hospital, renamed, in the meantime, Armonia. He had a 5-year-old boy at home, and he only got to hold the second one for a few minutes. Teodora died the next day, at the County Hospital, where she was transferred.

The file was stagnant for 4 years at the Constanța Court

After Teodora's death, the family filed a criminal complaint, but also a complaint to the College of Doctors.

In the first 4 years, the file stagnated at the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Constanța Court, says, in a dialogue with HotNews, Flavia Tutovanu, the lawyer of the Mocanu family.

Moved, “after our repeated requests”, to the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the file is today, more than 7 years later, in the stage of evidence administration, says the lawyer. Two doctors – one of the gynecologists who assisted her at the birth and the radiologist who monitored her with imaging throughout the pregnancy – have the status of suspects in the file.

Arranged 2 years ago, the forensic examination is not ready

With the relocation of the file from Constanța to Bucharest, also at the family's request, a new medico-legal expertise was ordered, this time at the “Mina Minovici” National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

“Thus, after 7 years, the Public Prosecutor's Office is still administering evidence. More specifically, we are in the forensic expertise phase, a report that was ordered approximately 2 years ago, but which is not yet completed,” says lawyer Flavia Tutovanu.

She adds that the examination was hampered by the histopathological examination, “the completion of which took a year and a half, despite our urgent requests. This was motivated by the lack of infrastructure and insufficient specialist staff within the INML.”

The prosecutor's office “did not consider fining INML for this excessive duration, although we also requested this”, says the lawyer of the Mocanu family.

“Legal realist, there is little chance that it will not be prescribed”

Now, Flavia Tutovanu believes that “legally realistically, there are not many chances that this file will not become statute-barred. At this moment we are discussing the suspects, not the defendants. These are also legal procedures that consume time, or I don't think we will fit into the short time left until the statute of limitations (the end of January – ed.)”.

“Next year, in 2026, criminal liability will expire, the statute of limitations has expired as a result of the decisions of the Constitutional Court. The term is 8 years from the time of the act, that's how it's calculated,” says the Mocanu family's lawyer.

Specifically, according to the law, a criminal act is time-barred in 8 years if the statutory penalty for that crime is imprisonment for more than 5 years, but not exceeding 10 years. The limitation period begins to run from the date of the act – January 24, 2018.

In this situation, the civil action will stand: “The civil parties will be entitled to recover their damages and be awarded damages.”

But, the family's lawyer points out, it must be taken into account that “this will also take years.”

However, the conclusions of the medico-legal expertise, the result of which is expected this fall in the criminal case, can also influence the civil case: “We await with interest the completion of the expertise, which, corroborated with the evidence from the case file, will certify the guilt of the medical staff involved, so that even in the event of the statute of limitations being fulfilled, we can discuss an admission of the civil action, with an obligation to repair the damage, as a result of the commission of the crime.”

“And delayed justice will be a form of justice”

After this journey of almost 8 years, the lawyer of the Mocanu family says that, from the point of view of the long duration, Teodora's case is not an exception, but rather a rule: “Judicial, criminal procedures, especially in cases of medical malpractice, are winding. They stretch over many years. As a rule, they exceed 5 years. And quite a few cases of this kind have reached the prescription of criminal liability, given the short term, this one for 8 years.”

The lawyer of the Mocanu family, however, believes that “even a delayed justice will represent a form of justice after this case”.

“Let's not forget that the deceased had two children. She only got to hold one of them for a few minutes. There are also the husband, the parents. There are enough civil parties who have the right to be compensated as a result of this serious medical incident”, concludes Flavia Tutovanu.

What happened at the College of Doctors

The College of Doctors decided, also following a complaint from the family, to sanction two gynecologists who assisted Teodora at birth with a vote of reprimand.

The radiologist who is now a suspect in the file, along with one of the two gynecologists, did not reach the College's Disciplinary Commission.

Even if, in fact, it is a symbolic sanction, the vote of blame is considered “a shame” in the medical world and may indicate the existence of a medical fault, a medical source explained to HotNews.

The sanction was decided in the Disciplinary Commission of the College of Doctors from Romania, after, initially, the Constanța Territorial College did not apply any sanction in this case, and Teodora's family contested the decision, medical sources told HotNews.

Officially, the College of Doctors refused to provide, at the request of HotNews, information about this disciplinary investigation, citing the fact that “it does not fall under the category of authorities or public institutions obliged to provide information under Law No. 544/2001”.

Photo: Focus Press