A surgeon from Osnabrück (D) was convicted after carrying out an appendicitis operation with 2.29 percent alcohol in his blood. His colleagues had to stop him.
picture alliance / dpa
The doctor showed coordination problems
The incident occurred in August 2022, when the surgeon performed an emergency operation on a patient’s appendix. On this occasion, the nurses in the operating room and the anesthetist noticed his peculiar behavior.
The doctor showed coordination problems during the procedure and caused burns on the patient’s intestine due to a treatment error.
Blood alcohol level of 2.29 per thousand
When he wanted to open the abdomen, the team intervened and informed the head doctor of the surgical department. He replaced the drunken surgeon and continued the operation himself.
A blood and urine test ordered by the surgeon revealed a blood alcohol level of 2.29 per thousand. The doctor was later fired from his position. According to a hospital spokeswoman, he had no known previous alcohol problems and was considered a competent and friendly colleague.
Despite the incident, the surgeon has since found a new job at a hospital in northern Münsterland.
Nine months suspended prison sentence
During the appeal trial at the Osnabrück Regional Court, the surgeon was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence.
The judge clarified that the behavior of the 56-year-old doctor should be considered dangerous bodily injury. This contradicted the doctor’s defense who had only retained the hypothesis of bodily injury through negligence. The doctor’s lawyer had appealed against a previous ten-month suspended sentence. However, the current judgment is not yet final.
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