Surgeon accused of letting teenage daughter drill hole in patient’s skull
A surgeon in Austria is under investigation for allowing her 13-year-old daughter to drill a hole in a patient’s skull.
A 33-year-old man was flown to University Hospital Graz with serious head injuries in January following an accident in an Austrian forest.
The female neurosurgeon, who has not been named, is alleged to have allowed her daughter to actively take part in the emergency surgery, including drilling open the patient’s skull, according to Austria’s Kronen Zeitung newspaper.
The surgery was completed without problems. However, in April an anonymous complaint lodged with the public prosecutor’s office in Graz – the regional capital of Styria, Austria’s second-largest state – prompted an investigation.
The patient reportedly first read about the incident in the media, only to be informed by police in July that he was the victim.
Peter Freiberger, his lawyer, said “You lie there, unwilling, unconscious and become [a] guinea pig. There’s probably no other way to put it... that’s not possible. You can’t do that.”
Girl may have ‘actively participated’
The hospital has confirmed that the surgeon who performed the operation and a senior surgeon who was there at the time were both suspended from duty with immediate effect. Both are being investigated on suspicion of causing serious bodily harm.
Five other people who were in the operating room are also under investigation for “failure to prevent an act that is punishable by law”.
Mr Freiberger is now looking to sue the surgical team and demand compensation for pain and suffering of the victim, who he said has been unable to return to work.
The Styrian Hospital Association (Kages), which operates the hospital, has neither confirmed nor denied whether the teenager drilled the hole.
In a statement at the end of May, Kages admitted that the girl may have “actively participated in the operation”, but stressed that the procedure was carried out without complications.
Mr Freiberger said that everyone present during the surgery shared responsibility, adding that neither Kages nor the hospital had contacted the victim. He told the German newspaper Bild: “There has been no contact, no explanation or apology, nothing. That is simply undignified.”
Graz University Hospital said in a statement that the investigation into the entire surgical team was ongoing but “as of yet, there is no concrete evidence that the daughter herself took actual part in the operation”.
It continued: “The hospital’s management would like to express its utmost regret and extend its sincere apologies for this incident, and is working to fully clarify the matter.”
