A hospital in Spain has apologized and cited “human error” amid revelations two decades ago that two girls had changed at birth.
They found out about the mistake after one of the girls, who is now 19, underwent a DNA test that showed that the parents who raised her were not hers. According to various reports, he sued the doctors for about 3 million euros (4.8 million dollars).
La Rioja health authorities say there is no corruption in their clinics, blaming “a single human error” for the tragic accident.
“It was a human error and we could not find out who was to blame,” Sara Alba, head of health, said on Tuesday.
Officials stated that they were “unaware of other cases” of baby exchange in their history and insisted that their current operation would not allow this setback today.
The plaintiff, who retained her identity in the press, was born in 2002 in the San Millan de Logrono hospital, in the north of the La Rioja region. Born five hours apart and underweight, the two babies were kept in nearby incubators at the same time.
In 2017, a family dispute, according to the local news site La Rioja, led the woman to take a paternity test, confirming that she and her father are, in fact, unrelated. Another test also confirmed her mother’s identity.
According to reports, his exchange counterpart has been informed of the life-altering mistake.
Lawyer Jose Saez Morga told TVR: “In the case of my client, she was born later, but was given to the mother who gave birth to the first child. It is such gross negligence that it speaks for itself.