A pediatric cardiologist incorrectly cleared around 100 children as healthy at Ryhov County Hospital in Jönköping, according to multiple reports. Region Jönköping County decided in spring 2025 to review about 500 medical records of children cleared as healthy by the same doctor from 2018 to 2022. This review found 78 children needed to be recalled, with 38 requiring continued follow-up at the clinic. Seven cases were assessed as more serious and referred to the pediatric heart center in Lund, and three of those need surgical intervention.
The clinic is now reviewing all patients cleared as healthy by the doctor from 2014 to 2017, totaling 280 cases. Based on the outcome of the initial review, Region Jönköping County decided in the fall to also review over 300 medical records from the doctor's earliest employment years, 2014-2017, according to multiple reports. So far, 800 medical records have been reviewed in various steps, but further checks remain. The number of affected children may increase further as additional searches are made in medical record systems, and the hospital is reviewing about 700 medical records and calling children back for check-ups, research indicates.
We understand that this can be a worrying message, and I really regret that these families have to go through this now.
Systematic failures extended to the doctor's work at Skåne University Hospital in Lund, where he committed serious errors, multiple reports show. The doctor administered an incorrect high dose of medication to a heart-sick child in Lund in September last year, causing the child's heart rate to drop significantly and leaving the child stressed and anxious. The medication was discontinued a day later. In that incident, the doctor did not follow routines to consult an arrhythmia specialist, and there was no justification for the treatment in the medical record and no follow-up plan was made. The doctor was perceived as 'stressed and forced' during a follow-up visit, which occurred just days before he was suspended from patient contact.
Colleagues describe the doctor as 'arrogant and unpleasant' towards parents and 'heavy-handed' with children, according to multiple reports. He is described as 'very verbal and can talk down anyone' and 'considers himself the best doctor there is'. The doctor belittled and 'ridiculed' nurses during joint meetings, and his 'lack of cooperation ability' has affected patient safety. According to SVT Nyheter, the pediatric cardiologist described the situation as an attempt to blame everything on a single individual.
One could even see this as an attempt to blame everything on a single individual.
Region Jönköping County is making two reports to the Inspectorate for Care and Care (IVO). One index case was previously reported under Lex Maria, and now another case will be Lex Maria-reported. The region is also making an individual report on the doctor according to Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Patient Safety Act, with reasons including lack of compliance with clinic routines and national consensus, deficiencies in medication management and patient handling, and interpretations of ultrasound. A new Lex Maria report will be submitted in the coming weeks covering all cases where patients have needed or need a renewed examination, and IVO has initiated its own investigations of the pediatric clinic and the doctor.
Historical context shows early warnings were missed. The doctor was hired in 2014 with very good references, according to multiple reports. Over the years, criticism emerged about lack of collaboration with the team and working methods, but no deviation reports about medical errors except one in 2016 about incorrect medication dosing. That 2016 incident led to a Lex Maria report and measures were taken. The doctor regularly returned to Lund for competence development, but no reports of medical deficiencies came from there. It was not until 2024 that collective reports about suspected medical errors came, and the investigation into the former pediatric cardiologist has been ongoing since then.
It is a big and very serious event.
Patient and family impact has been significant. The child's mother in the Lund medication case had to request a follow-up plan herself. She wrote in a complaint that they were subjected to 'psychological stress and anxiety' and that the incident posed 'a clear risk of care injury'. Katarina Hanséus, section head of the pediatric heart center in Lund, previously did not want to talk about the incident, but according to Dagens Nyheter, she later described it as a big and very serious event.
The hospital response has involved extensive communication and internal reviews. The children's clinic at Ryhov County Hospital has reviewed over 300 additional medical records in the investigation concerning the former pediatric cardiologist, according to official sources. Region Jönköping County sent a letter to all affected at the end of last week and will follow up with phone calls from doctors at the children's clinic and an appointment at the clinic, said Simon Rundquist, operations manager for the children's clinic. It was after re-referrals from other parts of care and at return visits that the pediatric clinic noticed that some patients were incorrectly cleared as healthy, leading to a Lex Maria report in October 2024 for one of these cases. An external reviewer was used to review nearly 500 cases from 2018 to 2022, and in the other cases, the external reviewer assessed that a correct assessment had been made. The clinic has started a review of working methods, guidelines, and routines.
When we see this, we understand that we should have followed up the work continuously.
Additional deviations have been discovered. In December 2025, the pediatric clinic identified four additional deviations besides those already sent to IVO, according to multiple reports. Two of the deviations could be linked to the doctor through medical record review, and two other deviations from 2019 were identified through conversations with employees. None of the four events are assessed to have led to patient injury, and all were handled at the unit level according to existing routine. The pediatric clinic has 1089 deviations from the years 2014 to 2022 when the doctor worked at the clinic. Earlier in the fall, searches were made in the extensive deviation material to find any additional deviations in pediatric heart care linked to the doctor from 2014-2022, without finding any. IVO has previously been given access to other deviations about the doctor, including the serious deviation that led to a Lex Maria report in 2016. The complement to IVO was reported to the regional board on December 16, 2025, and IVO will conduct an inspection on site at the pediatric clinic on January 20-21, 2026.
The doctor's perspective and current situation remain unclear. The pediatric cardiologist believes that Region Jönköping County appears to have singled him out as solely responsible for systematic failures in care. He still has his position but is relieved of duties, according to multiple reports. Signals of problems around the criticized pediatric cardiologist existed early at his current workplace, Skåne University Hospital in Lund. According to Jönköpings-Posten, Maria Nygren, operations manager for pediatric surgery and neonatal care at Skåne University Hospital, described the situation as one where they should have followed up the work continuously. Swedish Radio's local channel has sought the doctor, who no longer works at the hospital, for a comment.
The specific medical conditions or misdiagnoses that led to the recalls of the 78 patients from 2018-2022 and the ongoing review of 280 cases from 2014-2017 have not been publicly detailed. It is also unknown what disciplinary or legal actions, beyond the reports to IVO, have been taken against the pediatric cardiologist, or how many patients have suffered actual harm from his errors. Systemic failures in hospital management that allowed his behavior to persist for years without earlier intervention remain under investigation, and his current employment status and location are unclear beyond reports that he is relieved of duties and no longer works at Ryhov.