Four and a half years after the scandal surrounding numerous hepatis C infections in a Swabian clinic, the case will be heard before the Augsburg district court on April 19. A 60-year-old anesthetist then has to answer for 51 cases of dangerous bodily harm. The anesthetist is said to have infected patients during operations at the Donau-Ries Clinic in Donauwörth. As court spokesman Peter Grünes reported on Monday, ten victims have been admitted to the process as joint plaintiffs. The criminal court wants to hear more than 60 witnesses and four experts in the proceedings. Twelve days of negotiations are initially planned.
The hepatitis C infections became known in autumn 2018. The case had caused uncertainty among thousands of hospital patients. The health department had asked more than 1,700 of the accused doctor’s patients to be tested for hepatitis C because it could not be ruled out that the doctor had infected them.
The anesthesiologist, who is himself infected with hepatitis C, is said to have diverted away anesthetics because of an illness. He is said to have contaminated the drug and transmitted the disease to at least 51 patients. The 60-year-old is also charged with embezzlement because he used the preparations for himself.
Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver that often goes away on its own. In the worst case, however, the disease can also cause serious late effects such as cirrhosis or liver cancer after a few decades.