AUSTRIA – A 43-year-old surgeon has been fined for amputating the wrong leg of an elderly patient during a surgical operation.
Reports indicate that the elderly patient right leg was supposed to be hacked off but the doctor mistakenly amputated his left leg.
The patient found out two days later after the surgical operation that his left leg has been amputated instead of his right leg.
The Doctor was fined an amount of €2,700(£2,296) after the court in Liniz found him guilty of gross negligence.
The patient died before the doctor was fined and the widow of the patient has been awarded €5,000 in damages.
On last May the patient rushed to a clinic in Freistadt to have his right leg amputated but the doctor removed the wrong leg.
They identified the mistake during the routine bandage change and they informed the patient that, he has to amputate his other leg.
The director of the hospital disclosed that the incident happened as a result of a sequence of unfortunate circumstances and he render an apology during the news conference.
According to the doctor, the incident happened as a result of imperfection in the chain of command in the operating theatre.
He continued that, he marked the right leg but he doesn’t know why they mistakenly amputated the wrong leg.
Meanwhile, the doctor has been transferred to another hospital and half of her fine has been suspended.
