The “Norepinephrine” case: Six medical staff members from St. Pantelimon Hospital sent to trial

Prosecutors from the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bucharest Tribunal have sent six medical staff members from the “Sf. Pantelimon” Clinical Emergency Hospital in Bucharest to trial in the case known as “Noradrenaline.” Four doctors and two nurses are accused of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, attempting to induce the commission of a crime, perjury and intellectual forgery.

According to the indictment, between May 2023 and April 2024, the life-support treatment of some patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit was deliberately reduced without medical justification. Prosecutors claim that the doses of noradrenaline and the level of oxygen administered through ventilators were lowered, while some patients allegedly did not receive resuscitation procedures.

Investigators say that four patients died as a result of these interventions, that an attempt was made to kill a fifth, and that instructions to reduce the treatment of another patient were not followed. To conceal the alleged actions, the values recorded in the medical charts were allegedly falsified, while the noradrenaline dose was temporarily increased during visits by patients’ relatives—a practice referred to as “nora for a visit.”

The case was opened in 2024 following reports of suspicious deaths. The investigation included hearings, forensic medical examinations, the seizure of data from medical devices, searches and an exhumation. The judicial proceedings will establish the defendants’ criminal liability.