Polish doctors jailed for pregnant woman's death by medical negligence

Three Polish doctors have been sentenced to jail time for the death of a pregnant woman from medical negligence, though the media has used the case in an attempt to claim abortion (intentional killing) is medically necessary.

Key Takeaways:

• In 2021, Izabela Sajbor died from sepsis at 22 weeks pregnant.

• Sajbor told her family that doctors were not monitoring her, and that she was even forced to take her own temperature while in the hospital.

• Though she was clearly showing signs of sepsis, doctors didn't perform an emergency c-section until her preborn child had died.

• Polish law allows abortion if the mother's life is at risk (though emergency delivery is not an abortion).

• Three doctors involved in the case have been sentenced to jail time for medical negligence.

The Backstory:

Izabela Sajbor was 22 weeks pregnant when she experienced preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), meaning her water broke. It has frequently been noted that her preborn child had developmental defects; if true, though, this has no bearing on what action the doctors should or should not have taken. It is likely mentioned because Poland had recently amended its laws to ban eugenic abortions, when previously, disability was an acceptable reason to have an abortion. These eugenic abortions made up the vast majority of abortions in Poland before the law was passed.

It is alleged that her doctors did nothing to help her because Sajbor's baby was still alive, and simply told her to keep her legs up.

According to Notes From Poland, Sajbor sent messages to her family complaining about her treatment and blaming it on the newly-passed law.

“The child weights 485 grams. But for now, thanks to the abortion law I have to [just] lie [here]. And there is nothing they can do,” she texted her mother. "They’ll wait until it dies or something will start. If not, I can expect sepsis. They can’t speed it up. The heart has to stop beating or something has to start." Sajbor further claimed she was being treated like an "incubator" and that her baby was also suffering.

Her preborn child had been diagnosed with ventriculomegaly, hypoplastic nasal bone, and ventricular septal defect; these symptoms together indicate that her preborn child likely had a chromosomal abnormality, like Down syndrome. These conditions were unlikely to be fatal.

Sajbor further told her mother that no one was monitoring her, though sepsis is known to occur with PPROM. She said she was forced to monitor her own temperature and began running a fever. Only once her baby's heart stopped beating did doctors perform a c-section, but it was too late; Sajbor was already septic, and died. This is not proper protocol.

In this case, there was no reason for doctors not to intervene; Polish law permitted it, and an emergency c-section to save the mother's life, even when the baby is too premature to survive, is not an abortion. An induced abortion, in which a preborn child is intentionally targeted and killed, is not medically necessary.

Sajbor should have been admitted to the hospital, administered antibiotics, carefully monitored, and if necessary, had a c-section. This is the standard of care, which was not followed in her case.

The Details:

Previously, three doctors involved with Sajbor's case were sentenced to jail time, though they had appealed the ruling. The appeals court upheld the ruling for two of the doctors, however, and issued a harsher sentence for the third.

Andrzej P. was charged with involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison; he was also banned from practicing medicine for six years.

Michał M., who was on duty when Sajbor was admitted, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and was barred from practicing medicine for six years as well.

Krzysztof P., who was acting head of the hospital’s gynecology department, originally was sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence, a four-year professional ban, a fine, and a mandated professional apology. That was changed to one year in prison and a ban on practicing medicine for four years.

"It's an appropriate, fair punishment," said Karolina Kolary, a lawyer for Sajbor's family. "This was a case involving extraordinary negligence, a pure disregard for the most basic and fundamental medical duties" (emphases added).

The Bottom Line:

These three doctors deserve to be held accountable for their negligence, which led to a woman's senseless death.

It does not, however, mean that Poland's abortion laws should be loosened, or that doctors cannot practice medicine without the ability to intentionally kill preborn children.