Wegberger clinic scandal chief physician admits mistakes

Wegberger clinic scandal: chief physician admits bodily injury with death

02.03.2011

The former chief physician admits in court erroneous, unnecessary operations and the supply of wounds with lemon juice. In the process surrounding the Wegberg clinic scandal, former chief physician Arnold Pier filed a comprehensive confession yesterday in front of the Mönchengladbach district court.

After the head physician of the Wegberger hospital had denied all the allegations for the trial kick-off in 2009, the doctor confessed yesterday that patients had operated incorrectly and unnecessarily without consent. In addition, lemon juice was used for treatment and the importance of a living will has been ignored, Arnold Pier confirmed the allegations of the prosecutor. Already after the first allegations in the year 2007 the Green Landtag delegate from North Rhine-Westphalia had dr. Ruth Seidl explains that the unusual amount of authority of the head of the clinic as owner, head physician and medical director has in the first place made such a scandal possible.

Power position as head physician, clinic owner and medical director
Just one year before the first signs of the Wegberg hospital scandal, former chief physician Arnold Pier had bought the Sankt Antonius Clinic in Wegberg in 2006 and apparently abused his position of power. With fatal consequences for the patients. After several patients died and the allegations of the relatives became more and more massive, anonymous charges brought the first first abuses to light in 2007 and the court deprived the chief physician of his license to practice medicine. In 2009, the public prosecutor Mönchengladbach accused the former chief physician of the Wegberg Clinic, among other things, for the death of six people. Some of the relatives of the victims, such as Gerhard Lenzen from Mönchengladbach, whose mother had died in the clinic in January 2007, acted as a co-plaintiff. But Arnold Pier was not very clear on the trial prelude 2009 and instead of a confession came a bias request of his lawyers against Judge Lothar Beckers and an assessor. For the relatives a slap in the face, as well as Gerhard Lenzen after the process start confirmed. „Hardly anyone thinks of the victims“, criticized the co-plaintiff at that time.

Former head physician confesses injury with death
Now, the former chief physician, given the relatively generous proposal of the court (three and a half to four and a half years imprisonment and professional ban on a confession) apparently a better thought. Defense and Procuratorate agreed with the court's proposal, and the defendant yesterday admitted several fatalities and a number of other injuries. Also, the accusation of treatment with lemon juice and the disregard of a living will confirmed the former chief physician on Tuesday in court. The court signaled that in the upcoming imprisonment of a maximum of four and a half years due to the „excessive length of the procedure“ 9 to 13 months as already enforced.

Confession of the physician facilitates judgment considerably
The Mönchengladbach district court has certainly come a long way against the former chief physician with the impending punishment to bring the difficult sometimes tough procedure in one of the largest German processes of this kind to a conclusion. Because the proof of treatment errors is sometimes extremely complicated and a confession simplifies the decision finding here considerably. Thus, despite the relatively lenient sentence and co-plaintiff Gerhard Lenzen was satisfied in the face of understanding between the court, prosecutor and defense. After all, the accused had confessed his misdemeanors and the court proceedings, which had already cost all concerned and concerned enough nerves, could now be brought to an end, the co-plaintiff told the „Rheinische Post“. Meanwhile, the Wegberg clinic is gradually recovering from the scandal caused by the former head physician, owner and medical director following the resale in October 2009. (Fp)

Also read:
Lethal treatment errors from the chief physician
Lemon juice case: BGH reverses chief physician judgment

Picture credits: Gerd Altmann, Pixelio.de