Seven nurses guilty in infant death

(ANSA) - Milan, October 26 - Seven hospital nurses were found guilty of culpable manslaughter and handed suspended sentences of one year each in the March 2010 death by dehydration of Rachel Odiase, aged 13 months.
    The court also sentenced the nurses and Uboldo Hospital in the Milan-area town of Cernusco sul Naviglio to pay damages to the victim's parents. A civil court will decide on the amount.
    Two doctors have already been found guilty in the case and sentenced to pay 400,000 euros to the parents, who are raising Rachel's four brothers and sisters.
    Rachel was rushed by ambulance to the Uboldo Hospital emergency room just past midnight on March 3, 2010. She had acute gastroenteritis - a bacterial or viral infection of the gut that causes vomiting and diarrhea.
    She was with her mother Linda, who was joined later by father Tommy, an unemployed construction worker who brought his daughter's national health card. It had expired.
    Emergency room staff underestimated the child's state, and said she didn't need to be hospitalized.
    An hour later Tommy Odiase requested another medical visit since the child had gotten worse, but was turned down because Rachel's health card was expired.
    Carabinieri police intervened, and the child was finally hospitalized after 02:00. The mother stated medical staff neglected Rachel the entire night, and that it was only at 08:00 on March 4 that someone showed up to give her a blood test.
    She died at dawn on March 5.
    An autopsy showed the cause of death was dehydration.
    The prosecution said this was due to a lack of adequate medical care.