Story at a glance
- A surgeon who accidentally amputated the wrong leg of a patient in May has been fined more than $3,000 by an Austrian court.
- The surgeon “carried out an inadequate clarification with the existing medical records and the photo documentation before the operation for the planned amputation of the left thigh and thus marked the right leg for the surgical intervention,” Walter Eichinger, Linz Regional Court’s vice president, told CNN.
- After the first procedure, the patient needed the proper leg removed.
A surgeon who accidentally amputated the wrong leg of a patient in May has been fined more than $3,000 by an Austrian court.
Walter Eichinger, Linz Regional Court’s vice president, told CNN the 43-year-old surgeon was fined “for committing grossly negligent bodily harm.”
Eichinger told the outlet the surgeon on May 18 “carried out an inadequate clarification with the existing medical records and the photo documentation before the operation for the planned amputation of the left thigh and thus marked the right leg for the surgical intervention.”
After the first procedure, the patient needed the proper leg removed.
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The Freistadt Clinic said in a statement at the time a “disastrous combination of circumstances led to” the incorrect operation.
“It was [Thursday] morning, in the course of the standard wound dressing change, that the tragic mistake, caused by human error, was discovered,” said a statement from the clinic, per CNN.
“We would also like to affirm that we will be doing everything to unravel the case, to investigate all internal processes and critically analyze them. Any necessary steps will immediately be taken,” the statement said.
The 82-year-old patient died due to unrelated issues, and his widow was awarded $5,666 in damages.
Both the prosecutor and surgeon have until Dec. 6 to appeal the latest decision, according to CNN.
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