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A doctor has been fired after a two-month-old baby girl died in his care, as he was reportedly too drunk to do his job properly.
The shocking incident occurred at the Vinnytsia Regional Children's Clinical Hospital in the city of Vinnytsia in Central Ukraine.
Local media reports baby Nastya was having problems breathing after days of refusing to eat and constantly crying. And she was taken into intensive care upon arrival at the hospital.
Anton Soroka, the girl’s father, claims that the two doctors who treated his daughter were drunk and couldn’t diagnose her properly.
She reportedly died in hospital five hours after being placed in intensive care.
"I'm asking that the criminals who killed my two-month-old baby be punished. I'm talking about the doctors of a regional children's hospital and others who were 'saving' my baby while under the influence of alcohol, which was proved [to be so] by the experts," said Anton.
The heartbroken father claims there were at least two drunk doctors, the first of whom he says was a male doctor who came to speak to the family when the little girl was taken to the intensive care unit.
He says the second was a female doctor who spoke to the family when their daughter was still alive to tell them they were doing what they could for her.
Hospital officials confirmed only one doctor, a male anaesthesiologist, had been drunk, but they state he drank only after the girl's death.
The hospital said in a statement: "He explained that he was consuming alcohol after. He’s been suspended from work."
The doctor was reportedly fired the day after the statement was released and Nastya's parents have filed a criminal complaint with the police and the prosecutor's office.
Experts reportedly confirmed the doctor was drunk, finding there was more than 0,10g of alcohol for every 100ml of blood in his body.
The parents claim their baby girl was healthy before she arrived at the hospital.
If the doctor is found guilty, he could spend up to three years in prison and will never work as a doctor again.
The preliminary cause of death is a congenital heart condition, but Anton doesn’t believe it.
He says Nastya underwent all medical check-ups after her birth and was perfectly healthy.
The investigation is ongoing.
