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Police began investigating the patient swap on Monday at Prague’s Bulovka University Hospital. A healthy pregnant woman who came for a routine check-up at the gynecology-obstetrics clinic suffered a miscarriage as a result of the procedure. According to information, both women are foreigners who permanently reside in the Czech Republic.

According to her spokeswoman Eva Kropáčová, the police have been working on the case since Thursday on their own initiative. She has not received any criminal charges in connection with this. None of the women involved have contacted the police yet.

“During the course of yesterday afternoon, criminal investigators contacted the hospitals concerned. Unfortunately, so far we have not been able to contact any of the women,” a police spokesman told reporters on Friday morning. “We urge both victims to report to us. Either through line 158 or at any police station,” he added.

Evening Police on Network X he announcedthat he had been contacted by the attorney for one of the victims.

Based on newly obtained information in the case, criminal investigators have initiated criminal proceedings on suspicion of criminal grievous bodily harm due to negligence, police added.

According to Nova TV, the President of the Czech Patients’ Association, Luboš Olejár, asked the Minister of Health, Vlastimil Válk (TOP 09), to consider dismissing the director of the Bulovka hospital, Jan Kvačk, and to form a commission to initiate an investigation into the hospital.

“At this time, the Health Minister has no plans to dismiss the director of Bulovka University Hospital. Bulovka University Hospital is conducting an internal investigation into all the circumstances of the incident and the course of the unfortunate event,” ministry spokesman Ondřej Jakob responded to Nova.

According to CNN Prima News, the pregnant woman went to Bulovka for a routine check-up. The second woman had to undergo a procedure called curettage, which is done, for example, in the treatment of uterine diseases. However, pregnancy can also be terminated with this procedure.

“Based on the findings so far, as a result of serious violations and non-compliance with internal regulations by the relevant employees, the operation was initiated on a misidentified patient,” Bulovka spokeswoman Eva Stolejda Libigerová told CNN Prima News.

The Ministry of Health also commented on the tragic incident, considering it an unforgivable failure of the human factor. According to gynecologist and deputy chairman of the Czech Medical Chamber, Jan Přáda, this failure is not only the concern of the doctors who performed the operation.

“Of course, this case cannot only be the person who performed the procedure. If he had already approached the woman on the table who was already asleep, then during this procedure, when ultrasound is usually not done, he had no chance of knowing whether the woman was pregnant. Especially if it is a low week of pregnancy,” Přáda said in an interview for Seznam Zprávy.

Update: We have added information from the police about the investigation and about contacts with the legal representative of one of the victims and about calls to dismissal of the director of the Bulovka hospital.