Hospital scandal doctor sentenced to four years imprisonment

Hospital scandal: Doctor sentenced to four years imprisonment

28.03.2011

Today, the verdict has fallen in one of the most comprehensive hospital scandals in Germany. The head physician of the St. Antonius Hospital in Wegberg was sentenced to four years imprisonment. The doctor was accused of using lemon juice for the disinfection of wounds and to have performed unnecessary and unnecessary operations.

After the chief physician of the clinic in Wegberg, Arnold P., had already admitted several bodily injuries with death penalty as well as a number of other bodily injuries and treatment errors in the district court of Mönchengladbach at the beginning of March, the final verdict in the proceedings followed today. In return for a confession, the court had agreed to limit the medical practitioner's term to a maximum of four years. According to the prosecution, Arnold P., the owner and chief physician of the St. Antonius Hospital, abused his position of power for profit maximization to the detriment of the patients. In his final words, however, the accused only spoke of personal overload as the cause of the terrifying events.

Doctor commits several times bodily injury with death
At the beginning of the trial, the public prosecutor's office accused the head physician of the Wegberg Clinic of seven deaths and over 60 cases of personal injury as a result of wrong treatment. In doing so, the 54-year-old doctor put patients' lives at risk, both through inappropriate treatment and unnecessary surgery. Arnold P. was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for a double personal injury, two negligent homicides and 21 cases of personal injury. In addition, the convicted person must pay € 30,000 to the survivors of the deceased patients. Without a confession, the one-and-a-half-year trial would probably have dragged on for much longer, so that the parties had agreed to a clear concession on the sentence in return for a confession. This filed Arnold P. in early March, but profit striving as the cause of his misconduct, the former chief physician of Wegberger clinic apparently did not want to admit. „I have taken over my life, "the 54-year-old defendant said in his closing remarks today: Arnold P. was also the owner, chief physician, medical director and surgeon of St. Anthony's Hospital.

Profit interests as a cause of medical misconduct?
But especially in the unnecessary operation and the wanton renunciation of the consultation of experts and the disinfection with lemon juice, the prosecutor suspected until today more of a pronounced profit interest behind the misconduct of the physician instead of an overload. Already in the original indictment was said, chief physician Arnold P. had purely for the sake of profit maximization superfluous bowel surgery performed and unnecessary in patients gallbladder, cecum, kidney or pleura removed. However, the evidence presented itself as extremely difficult in the context of the case, so that the prosecutor's office had also agreed to confess to reducing the sentence to a maximum of four years in return. In addition, the physician, whose license was withdrawn in 2008 after the allegations in the St. Anthony's Hospital was withdrawn, allowed for four years because of his indebted „Chain of serious mistakes“ not work as a physician. For the co-plaintiffs concerned, however, this is hardly acceptable. As an essential consequence of the hospital scandal, they demanded that the doctor should never treat patients again.

Power position abused as a clinic owner, chief physician and medical director
In January 2006, Arnold P. bought the St. Antonius Hospital from Wegberg Commune for a symbolic price and saved it from bankruptcy. After the first allegations became known in 2007, the Green Landtag delegate from North Rhine-Westphalia had dr. Ruth Seidl stated that the head of the clinic's unusual capacity as owner, chief physician and medical director made such a scandal possible in the first place. The prosecution stated in its indictment that Arnold P. after taking over the clinic all departments „subjected to a strict economic postulate“ and for cost reasons have ordered in numerous cases, instead of using the expensive sterile solutions freshly squeezed lemon juice for wound disinfection. Also, expensive treatments with antibiotics, heparin or blood products have been used very sparingly. In addition, the chief physician had ignored at least one living will and performed numerous unnecessary operations.

Doctor denies profit motive as motive
The defense, however, insists that for a „alleged austerity dictates“ Piers in the Wegberger Clinic „no evidence“ and the defendant reiterated that profit was not his motive. Arnold P. pointed out that by taking over the clinic in „unfortunate personal union (...) objectively and temporally“ was overwhelmed. His mandate was „not a criminal“and just have to be „to implement positive medical ideal through and through“ want, explained the defender. In view of the accused charges, a somewhat strange assessment of the behavior of Arnold P. for process observers. In his confession, the former senior physician had confirmed not only the care of wounds with lemon juice, but also erroneous and unnecessary operations performed without the patient's consent. In addition, the public prosecutor's office still seems questionable why an overburdened physician renounces the involvement of specialists and instead carries out the treatment himself, although for example in the field of microsurgery even the necessary instruments were not available. (Fp)

Also read:
Lemon juice case: BGH reverses chief physician judgment
Lethal treatment errors from the chief physician
Wegberger clinic scandal: chief physician admits mistakes