Hospital patient arrested for allegedly switching off neighbor’s ‘noisy’ oxygen machine

By Chris Stern and Issy Ronald, CNN

A hospital patient has been arrested after she allegedly twice switched off the oxygen equipment on which a fellow patient depended because it was too noisy, German authorities have said.

The public prosecutor’s office in the southwest German city of Mannheim obtained a warrant for the 72-year-old woman’s arrest and she was brought before the magistrate and investigating judge of Mannheim Local Court on Wednesday.

She was later admitted to a “correctional facility,” the police headquarters and public prosecutor’s office in Mannheim said in a statement.

The woman allegedly turned off the main switch of the oxygen equipment some time before 8:00 pm on Tuesday, “after feeling disturbed by the noise emanating from (it),” the statement said.

“Although the suspect was informed by hospital staff that the oxygen supply was a vital measure, she allegedly turned off the device again at around 9:00 pm,” it continued.

The 79-year-old woman had to be resuscitated and is still receiving intensive medical care.

Oxygen equipment is used to ensure that enough oxygen reaches a patient’s cells and can take different forms, including a nasal cannula, face mask or tracheotomy tube, according to the Cleveland Clinic website.

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