Meningitis patient dies after being wrongly admitted to mental ward in Spain

ANDREAS FERNANDEZ GONZALEZ, suffering from meningitis, was admitted to a psychiatric ward instead of the intensive care unit she needed.

For much of the time she spent at the Hospital Central de Asturias in Oviedo in April 2017 she was tied to her bed, revealed her sister Aitana, who also said that she was not allowed to have visitors.

“We had gone several times to A and E because she had acute tonsillitis and had started to hear noises inside her head,” Aitana explained.

“But when they looked at the family records and saw that our mother is schizophrenic they assumed that Andreas also had a mental illness.”

Instead the 26-year-old was dying of meningitis but according her sister nothing was done to save her life when she was finally admitted after her third A and E visit.

A post-mortem revealed that her death was caused by meningitis and heart failure.

 “That’s why I have reported seven doctors and started criminal proceedings against them, accusing them of manslaughter and gross professional negligence.”

Two years later, the investigating judge summary is nearing completion although according to sources quoted in the Spanish media, the hospital is refusing to comment on the case.