Patient died after X-ray examination

A patient died after an X-ray examination at Halland Hospital. The incident is now being reported according to lex Maria.

The examination, a so-called ERCP which is performed with a flexible tube inserted into the bile duct, was conducted to investigate elevated liver values and a widened bile duct that had been noted in a previous X-ray.

During the examination, no gallstone or other abnormality was detected, but the patient suffered severe complications as a result of the procedure. The person died about two weeks later.

Before the procedure, the person was in good health and the liver values had normalized, according to a press release from Region Halland.

"According to the incident analysis, the basis for performing the ERCP examination was therefore considered weak and the incident thus avoidable", says Ola Blomqvist, chief physician at Halland Hospital, in a comment.