A surgeon has been fined for amputating the wrong leg of an elderly patient. The surgeon was fine a total sum of €2,700 for removing the right leg instead of the left leg of the patient.
The patient visited a clinic last may in Freistadt, Austria to have his leg amputated but the surgeon marked the wrong leg for amputation. The mistake was realized when a routine bandage change was being done.
The surgeon said there was a flaw in the chain of command in the operating theatre resulting in the incident during the court hearing. On Wednesday, the court found the 43-year-old surgeon guilty of gross negligence. The patient’s spouse was also awarded €5,000 in damages.
