A shocking incident at Durand Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has left investigators probing how a psychiatric patient was able to access a restricted ward and allegedly disconnect a life-saving ventilator from a critically ill patient.
The victim, identified as José Ignacio, had been admitted to the hospital with bilateral pneumonia and placed in an induced coma after being intubated. According to family accounts, his condition had shown signs of stabilisation before the fatal incident occurred.
His son, Germán Sequeira, described the moment hospital staff informed the family, saying they were called urgently and later told that his father had suffered a sudden collapse.
“There he told us that my dad had suffered a heart attack, and that when they went to the room where he was hospitalised, they found this woman standing in front of the bed holding the oxygen tube that goes into the trachea in her hand. She had pulled it out,” he said.
Hospital staff allege the woman had left the psychiatric unit and walked roughly 200 metres into the intensive care area without being stopped. She is said to have been discovered beside the patient’s bed holding the disconnected breathing tube.
A hospital statement confirmed that a psychiatric patient had been involved in disconnecting the ventilator that supported the patient’s breathing, leading to his death. Union representative Héctor Ortiz said the patient had previously been seen wandering into restricted areas earlier in the week, raising concerns about supervision and access control inside the facility.
Authorities have launched two parallel investigations, one internal and one judicial, to determine how the breach occurred and whether hospital protocols were followed correctly. The psychiatric patient is currently under police guard at another medical facility while inquiries continue.