Patient annoyed by sound of roommate’s ventilator unplugs it twice, German officials say
A German woman has been arrested after she unplugged her hospital roommate’s ventilator twice, state officials say.
Prosecutors said the 72-year-old patient is accused of unplugging her roommate’s ventilator sometime before 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29, after she grew annoyed by the sound it made. The patient’s 79-year-old roommate was dependent on the machine.
When hospital workers learned that the machine had been unplugged, they told the woman that her roommate was reliant on the machine, according to a Dec. 1 news release from the state prosecutor’s office.
Despite this warning, the woman unplugged the machine for a second time around 9 p.m.
The 72-year-old was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and is being held in a correctional facility in Mannheim, about 85 miles northwest of Stuttgart in the southwestern region of Germany.
The suspect’s roommate required resuscitation after her ventilator was unplugged for the second time, according to officials. She is stable but still requires intensive care.
The investigation is ongoing.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the state prosecutor’s office in Mannheim, Germany.
This story was originally published December 1, 2022 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Patient annoyed by sound of roommate’s ventilator unplugs it twice, German officials say."
