The fine is up to 3700 € if drivers are caught driving with 0.8 to 1.2 per thousand and their driver’s license has to be taken away. For removing the wrong, healthy leg, an Upper Austrian doctor got away with a significantly lower fine: The surgeon (43) amputated the wrong leg of a patient (82) who has since died and explained the “error” as “human error”.
The doctor was guilty of grossly negligent bodily harm, the Linz regional court ruled on Wednesday. In the proceedings, she merely admitted to having “made a mistake”, but denied “gross negligence”.
The case concerned a patient who had since died and had a thigh amputation on his left leg. Before the operation in Freistadt, the surgeon had marked the right leg and only noticed the error two days after the amputation.
The doctor argued that this was a case of “human error” and that the control mechanisms for such interventions were inadequate. She now works in another hospital.
The court awarded the patient’s widow, who appeared as a joint plaintiff, 5,000 euros in compensation for pain and suffering. The verdict is not yet legally binding. The doctor and the public prosecutor’s office can appeal.
