An Austrian brain surgeon has denied allowing her 12 year old daughter to drill a hole in a patient’s skull during emergency surgery.
The incident is alleged to have taken place in January 2024, when a mother purportedly permitted her young daughter to assist with brain surgery in Styria, a state in southeastern Austria, on a farm worker who had been struck on the head by a falling tree branch.
The surgeon, whose identity has not been disclosed publicly, allegedly allowed her daughter to drill into the man’s skull as she had shown an interest in medicine.
Prosecutor Julia Steiner stated: “took the twelve year old girl into the operating theatre, where she drilled a hole into the exposed skullcap alone and without help. Beforehand, the accused explained the function of the drilling device,” according to The Kronen Zeitung.
The woman has, however, refuted claims that her daughter assisted in the operation, though she conceded to allowing her to “go to the operating table,” which she told the court was her “biggest mistake.”, reports the Express US.
Nurses at University Hospital Graz, where the incident took place, observed that the woman had boasted about her child’s involvement in the operation, a claim she subsequently described as a falsehood stemming from her “bloody stupid maternal pride.”
A junior colleague of the surgeon, who also remains unnamed, confessed that the girl did assist him in drilling the hole, but he maintained that he was “always in control” of the tool. Reports suggest that at one point, the mother handed over the procedure to the junior surgeon and stepped away from the table to make a phone call.
There are conflicting accounts as to which surgeons permitted the girl to partake in the operation.
The junior colleague expressed his shock when asked if the girl could participate in the procedure, but he didn’t decline, admitting that it “was a huge mistake,” under the impression that the senior surgeon had given approval.
“You are proud that you have taken good care of the patient, but you only [realise] later that a mistake has been made that is morally and ethically unacceptable,” the junior surgeon admitted in court.
Both surgeons have since been dismissed. According to Judge Gundula Neudeck, the mother’s “biggest mistake was probably taking her there in the first place; a child has no business being there.”
If the court determines that the 12 year old did indeed participate in the procedure, both surgeons could potentially face conviction for causing bodily harm by allowing an untrained individual to treat a patient, a crime that typically carries a prison sentence of up to a year or a fine.
Steiner criticised the incident, stating it showed “incredible disrespect towards the patient.
“What would have happened if the drill had been defective and had not topped automatically after breaking through the skull bone?” she questioned.
The victim’s solicitor, Peter Freiberger, revealed that his client had discovered the case online and was later informed that he was the victim. As of last August, the lawyer stated his client had not yet received an apology.
“You lie there. Unwilling, unconscious, and become guinea pigs,” Freiberger told local media. “There’s probably no other way to put it… That’s not possible. You can’t do that.”
The young woman refused to give evidence in court, while the victim, a 33 year old man, was unable to attend due to illness.
The hospital’s head of neurosurgery also expressed regret, telling the court, “This is terrible.
“The case is known all over the world, people from every continent are talking to me about it,” he said. “Our neurosurgery enjoys such a high reputation. Now, patients are afraid because of this, but respect for our patients is our damned duty.”
The case has been adjourned until 10 December.