An Austrian surgeon allegedly let his teenage daughter drill a hole in a patient’s skull.
Following a forestry accident in January, a 33-year-old man was flown by air ambulance to Graz University Hospital, Styria, southeastern Austria, with serious head injuries, according to Kronen Zeitung, an Austrian newspaper.
He needed emergency surgery, but the doctor allegedly let his 13-year-old daughter take part in operating on him.
The newspaper reported that she even drilled a hole in the patient’s skull.
While the operation was said to have gone off without issue, the patient is still unable to work and investigations by the Graz public prosecutor’s officer against the entire surgical team are continuing.
It wasn’t until April that an anonymous complaint was logged to the public prosecutor’s office about the allegations, the newspaper reported.
The alleged victim initially learned about the case in the media before later being told by authorities he was a witness in an investigation.
According to a different source shared by @giriinthejungle, the attorney who has taken the case is suing the entire operating unit and expects whoever instructed the girl to drill the hole to be liable for assault. That is also the estimation of the chief regional patient attorney, provided the incident happened as reported by the media.
The neurosurgeon as well as one other doctor have already been let go by the hospital.
Police have not yet charged anyone, their investigation is still ongoing as of the time of the article (2024-08-26).