Because he is said to have falsified surgical protocols in more than a hundred cases, a renowned surgeon at Vienna General Hospital was reported three years ago and fined. The matter is settled under criminal law, but now it is an issue again – because despite this history, the doctor should get a top position in Graz. The waves rise accordingly.
Specifically, the surgeon was specified as the operator in the operating room logs, although he is said not to have been in the operating room. Patients were mistakenly led to believe that he – the “Kapazunder” – had operated on them.
This is reported by a patient who is said to have been treated for aggressive breast cancer. “The joke on the side was that he said he was in Switzerland the day before. But only if the plane crashes would that be a reason for him not to operate on me himself,” reports the patient. During follow-up checks, the doctor had lied skillfully, as another patient reported. “He then looked at my chest and said: Well, I did a very good job there again because you couldn’t see the scar.”
The surgeon confirmed to “Ö1” that he should have felt his existence threatened by the incidents. The proceedings against him were dropped. Now he is to be given a senior position at MedUni Graz – including operations. His lawyer Timo Gerersdorfer explains that the doctor confessed to the false information. “He admitted that he had actually told the patients untruths. And he had to pay a fine here, 13,000 euros and also the private fees to the patients – I represented four here – to pay back.”
The renowned surgeon, whose reputation has been tarnished by this history, has now applied for the position of chief surgeon at MedUni Graz. According to the rector of the MedUni, Helmut Samonigg, there is nothing to be said against his application. “To single out a personality at this point in time and to publicly disavow it, I consider to be a highly questionable course of action. We have no credible, well-founded information that would legally make it impossible for him to apply for this position,” said the director.
