Yerevan Prosecutors Open Criminal Proceedings Over Newborn’s Death

Yerevan’s Erebuni and Nubarashen district prosecutor’s office has opened criminal proceedings over the January 29 death of a newborn baby in Yerevan’s Muratsan hospital, the authorities reported today.

According to the official statement, a preliminary investigation has revealed that immediately after birth, the baby was diagnosed with acute fetal hypoxia, pneumonia, third degree respiratory failure, acute kidney failure, and hemorrhagic syndrome, which could have been caused by an umbilical cord compression during labor or by an improper delivery technique.

“There is sufficient evidence to suggest that the newborn’s death might have resulted from the medical personnel’s improper performance of their professional duties. A criminal case has therefore been launched under Article 130.2 of Armenia’s criminal code (failure to implement or improper implementation of professional duties by medical and support personnel which negligently caused the death of a patient),” the statement said.

In an earlier interview with Epress.am, the newborn’s grandfather, Rustam Isayan, had blamed the infant’s death on Armavir Medical Centre obstetrician-gynecologist Nshan Gevorgyan. Irina Khachaturova, a doctor at the same hospital, for her part, had suggested that the death might have been avoided had Gevorgyan decided to deliver the baby through c-section.