“Rzeczpospolita” reported on Friday, 30 October, how the medical records described the stay of 29-year-old Kacper in the ER in Świdnica; the man died on 5 September. The case is being handled by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Świdnica, and the hospital denies any irregularities in how its work was organised.
According to “Rzeczpospolita”, the 29-year-old from Świdnica county had been ill with diabetes since childhood and for two years had been on dialysis three times a week. On 1 September he was taken to the Świdnica hospital ER with convulsions and vomiting. As the paper reports, the local portal Świdnica24 was the first to make the case public. The findings below come from records that the paper’s editors obtained and have not been confirmed by the hospital or the prosecutor’s office.
Two discharges and no dialysis
The paper’s account says that after the first visit the patient was discharged and taken home by ambulance. The family refused to take him in because, as described, they had no contact with him and he needed care. He returned to the ER. In the nursing chart, between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, the patient was recorded four times as “awaiting further decisions” by a doctor. He was then discharged with a note that he was being referred to psychiatry and on 2 September was transferred to the hospital in Wałbrzych. A doctor there concluded he did not qualify for a psychiatric ward and linked the symptoms to epilepsy. The family stresses that Kacper had no diagnosis of schizophrenia.
After his return to Świdnica, according to “Rz”, a blood gas test was performed for the first time. It showed severe acidosis: arterial blood pH of 6.87 (normal 7.35–7.45) and blood glucose of 1005. The paper quotes a consulting emergency medicine specialist who assessed that this was a life-threatening condition and that the patient qualified for intensive care (OIOM).
Restraints, resuscitation and death
The doctor ordered direct coercion; the patient’s hands were reportedly immobilised for 9 hours and 45 minutes, with a short break after four hours. The law allows four hours at a time; longer use requires a new decision. On 3 September, at about 5:20, he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, and then another. He was moved to intensive care at 11:50 on the third day of his ER stay. According to the records, the doctor who took over his care noted that the planned dialysis from 1 September had not been carried out. A CT scan on 4 September showed findings consistent with brain death, and death was certified on 5 September at 16:30. The immediate cause was given as brain swelling.
The doctor and the prosecutors’ case
“Rz” also writes that the doctor who discharged the patient after the first visit was, in February 2024, working shifts in the ER in Legnica while under the influence of alcohol (over 2.3 per mille). According to the paper, the Legnica prosecutors discontinued the investigation in June 2025, finding no elements of a crime, and the case was also referred to the Regional Medical Disciplinary Court. The doctor did not comment on the case to the paper. The hospital management confirmed she was on duty and said she no longer works in the ER. According to “Rz”, she still takes shifts in the night and holiday health care of the same employer.
The District Prosecutor’s Office in Świdnica is conducting proceedings for exposing a person to danger (Article 160 § 2 of the Penal Code) and causing death through negligence (Article 155). Earlier, after reports in local media, it opened preliminary proceedings. As Świdnica24 reports, the National Health Fund (NFZ) also started an audit, and the management removed the doctors treating the patient from ER duties until the proceedings conclude. In response to the family’s complaint, the hospital wrote that it found no irregularities in the organisation of services and that there were no limits on diagnostics or treatment.
What it means
At this stage no one has been charged, and whether a medical error occurred is for prosecutors and expert witnesses to determine. The patient’s family may also seek explanations under the patient rights regulations; they filed a complaint on 24 September. The hospital has said it will not assess the staff’s liability until the prosecutors’ decisions are made.
