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The medical incident involving the death of an infant after surgery at the Women and Children's Hospital of Ningbo University in East China's Zhejiang Province, a case that has drawn national public attention, has been found to be a grade 1, class A medical malpractice, the severest in category, according to detailed investigation results published Thursday. The chief surgeon's license was revoked and multiple other doctors involved were punished.

According to media reports, on November 14, infant girl "Little Luoxi" underwent heart surgery at the Women and Children's Hospital of Ningbo University and unfortunately passed away, sparking widespread public concern.

Ningbo Health Commission previously issued two notices on November 17 and December 14, 2025. In the second update, investigation team established by the commission found inadequate risk assessment, lapse in surgical operation, and failures in intraoperative disclosure with regard to sudden event, and inadequacy in postoperative monitoring and management, while a medical accident appraisal is pending to determine liability.   

According to relevant laws and regulations governing medical institutions and practitioners, the hospital has been instructed to remove the chief surgeon from position as director of the Second Department of Surgery, and to remove the anesthesiologist from position as director of the Anesthesiology Department. The Ningbo Health Commission has revoked the doctor's medical practitioner license and suspended the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit doctor from practicing for six months, and imposed administrative penalties including warnings and fines on the three doctors involved, according to the announcement.

According to the announcement, the infant girl "Little Luoxi", was admitted to the hospital for treatment on November 11, 2025, and was diagnosed with mixed atrial septal defect, unroofed coronary sinus syndrome, and pulmonary hypertension. Surgery was performed then on November 14. Postoperatively, the infant's condition deteriorated, including heart failure and respiratory failure. Despite rescue efforts, clinical death was declared at 10:03 pm.

On January 12, 2026, under the full notarization of a notary institution and the supervision of Municipal People's Congress delegates and Municipal Political Consultative Conference members, and complying with the family's request for expert recusal, the Ningbo Medical Association randomly selected nine authoritative domestic experts from expert database to form an appraisal panel. 

The appraisal panel analyzed and evaluated the preoperative diagnosis, surgical indications, timing of surgery, preoperative assessment, choice of surgical approach, surgical procedure, postoperative monitoring, and the cause of the infant's death. The panel concluded that the infant had a mixed atrial septal defect, slightly enlarged right atrium and right ventricle, along with pulmonary hypertension, indicating elective surgery was warranted.

The announcement revealed the shortcomings on the part of the medical team including insufficient basis for the preoperative diagnosis; failure to conduct a preoperative multidisciplinary discussion; suboptimal timing of the surgery, insufficient caution in choosing the surgical approach, resulting in surgical errors that necessitated a second atrial septal defect repair and prolonged the surgery; and insufficient postoperative monitoring, and delayed management. The negligence had a direct causal relationship with the infant's death resulted from postoperative complications of heart failure and respiratory failure.

Furthermore, the infant's own conditions increased the surgical difficulty and risk, and were also associated to some extent with the infant's death.

The Ningbo Health Commission has also instructed the hospital to conduct a thorough self-examination, ordered it to make corrections within a specified time limit, and imposed administrative penalties including a warning and a fine. 

Global Times