The Tokyo District Court sentenced two Tokyo municipal hospital nurses Wednesday to suspended prison terms for their role in the death of a female patient who was accidentally given an intravenous dose of disinfectant in February 1999.
Haruko Kamei, 30, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years, while Takako Tannai, 27, was given eight months in prison, also suspended for three years, for professional negligence resulting in the death of Etsuko Nagai, a 58-year-old resident of Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, at Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital in Shibuya Ward.
In handing down his ruling, presiding Judge Masazo Ogura said, "Mixing up medicines is an elementary mistake, and their responsibility is grave." The anger Nagai's family feels about her death is overwhelming, the judge added.