Operation error cuts into surgeon’s finances
The Supreme Court has ruled that a cardiologist must pay a patient 44,000 euros in compensation for forgetting to remove a needle from his body during a bypass operation 14 years ago. It was revealed yesterday that the court found the doctor guilty of negligence when he omitted to remove the needle during surgery at Thessaloniki’s AHEPA hospital. The doctor had argued that the patient should have sued the state as he was working for the national health system but the court found that the surgeon was fully responsible, saying he «should have applied his considerable scientific knowledge and expertise as a university professor.» The doctor was also ordered to pay 2,000 euros in court costs.
