Surgeon Fined $3,000 for Amputating Patient’s Wrong Leg

An Austrian surgeon is facing consequences after she amputated the wrong leg of a patient.

This week, Walter Eichinger, the vice president of the Linz Regional Court, told CNN that the 43-year-old medical professional was fined 2,700 euros, about $3,050, for “committing grossly negligent bodily harm.”

On May 18, the surgeon, who was working at a clinic in Freistadt, was supposed to amputate an 82-year-old man’s left leg but instead amputated his right leg above the knee.

“[The surgeon] carried out an inadequate clarification with the existing medical records and the photo documentation before the operation for the planned amputation of the left thigh and thus marked the right leg for the surgical intervention,” Eichinger said on Thursday.

Per People, the hospital, which did not realize the mistake until two days later, blamed the incident on “human error.”

Additionally, the clinic said the error began before the operation, when an employee incorrectly marked the patient’s right leg as the one to operate on.

The clinic previously said that the man was suffering from “numerous medical conditions,” and that past illnesses caused the need for his surgery.

Following the mistake, the man — who died before the court date due to reasons unrelated to his amputation — had the correct leg removed as well.

In addition to the surgeon’s fine, the court awarded $5,666 in damages to the man’s widow.

The surgeon and the prosecutor have until 12 p.m. on December 6 to appeal the decision. If they do not, the court’s judgment will be final on December 7.