[NYPOST] A cancer patient went up in flames during surgery in Romania ‐ when doctors used an alcohol-based disinfectant, then touched her with an electric scalpel, according to a new report.The unidentified 66-year-old woman died a week after she was seriously burned in the botched procedure, which took place in Bucharest on Dec. 22, the BBC reported.
The woman, who was suffering from pancreatic cancer, was undergoing an operation at Floreasca Hospital when surgeons used the flammable disinfectant, according to the report.
When they later started using an electric scalpel and it came in contact with the alcohol, she caught on fire ‐ suffering burns to 40% of her body, the BBC says.
She passed away at the hospital Sunday and police are probing her death, Romanian outlets reported.
The woman’s family told local media that hospital officials only informed them that "an accident" had occurred ‐ but never elaborated or explained the "gravity of the situation."