Mother not questioned

No end in the trial over dead Lukas

After complications, little Lukas died a few days after birth. The trial against a doctor at Wels Regional Court also dealt with a death that occurred some time ago. After the postponement, the mother is due to testify in August - she is currently pregnant.

The reason for yesterday's trial at Wels Regional Court could hardly have been sadder: it was about the death of a newborn baby. In the dock was a 64-year-old gynecologist accused of gross negligence manslaughter and gross negligence causing bodily harm. Flashback to December 6, 2021: During the birth in Vöcklabruck hospital, Sabrina W. from Salzburg suffered a uterine rupture and had to undergo emergency surgery. Her child suffered severe brain damage and died after just eight days.

Long conversation
Experts determined that the uterine rupture was the "cause of death". Sabrina W. was unable to testify at the trial on Thursday, she is pregnant again and is expecting her child at the end of May. The assistant doctor who had conducted the pre-natal consultation with the pregnant woman was questioned first. She only remembers "that the conversation took a very long time because the patient was still very undecided as to whether she wanted a caesarean section or a vaginal birth".

Medication administered
In the end, a caesarean section was agreed for the next day - but the pregnant woman canceled it and came to the hospital a week later with contractions. However, the birth came to a standstill and the labor-promoting drug prostaglandin was administered. - This is known as "off-label use", because according to the manufacturer, the drug should not be administered after a previous caesarean section, as was the case with Sabrina W. "In this particular case, we could have waited," admitted the primary physician from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, who was called to testify in court.

A case like this before
The public prosecutor confronted him with the fact that a death had already occurred once before under the direction of the accused senior physician following administration of the drug - on that occasion, the mother died following a uterine rupture, and an expert concluded that prostaglandin was "clearly contraindicated", i.e. should not be used. The doctor admitted that he was aware of the expert opinion, but justified himself with the different dosage at the time. In the end, the case was adjourned and the mother is to testify again in August.