The Health Regulatory Authority forced the Local Health Unit of São José, in Lisbon, to review and reinforce body identification procedures. The decision came following a serious situation in which a family realized that the corpse of a loved one had been swapped.
The case involved a corpse mix-up that was only detected by the family, which raised questions about the identification protocols practiced at the Lisbon health unit. After the complaint was filed, the regulatory authority analyzed the situation and deemed it necessary to implement changes to the procedures.
The São José ULHS was thus forced to reinforce the identification mechanisms to guarantee that similar situations would not occur again. The Health Regulatory Authority monitored the case and determined the corrective measures that the hospital unit had to adopt.
