An Austrian surgeon was fined 2,700 euros (£2,238) and ordered to pay 5,000 euros (£4,145) in damages after amputating the wrong leg of an 82-year old patient with diabetes at a hospital in Freistadt, near Linz.
The mistake was not discovered for two days, after which the correct leg was amputated, although the patient died shortly after from unrelated causes.
The 43-year-old woman doctor said that problems with the patient's medical documents had led to the error and that none of her colleagues had spotted it during the final pre operative review either.
Times, 3rd December 2021