An orthopedic surgeon has been ordered to pay €298,000 to the patient who he left ‘wheelchair bound’ after what should have been a fairly simple surgery. “The patient walked into hospital with the objective of effecting a simple surgical intervention of substituting and placing new screws in her (prosthetic) hip and came out, three months later, in a wheelchair”, read the judgement from Porto appeals court, referring to the incident that took place 13 years ago. In all that time, the woman who “had a busy social life, cultivating friends, has been confined to a space that goes from bedroom, bathroom to living room”. The surgeon had argued that it could not be proved (in his opinion) that the lesion suffered by the patient was as a result of his surgery. Judges disagreed, stressing: “It was demonstrated that the surgical procedure was realised in a deficient or defective way”.
Orthopedic surgeon ordered to pay €289,000 for leaving patient wheelchair-bound
