Child drilled open head?

Doctor: “You don’t know what you’ve done to us!”

The two surgeons in the courtroom of Graz East District Court(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

On Tuesday, the trial against the surgeon whose child (12) allegedly drilled open the head of a patient at Graz Regional Hospital began amid great interest. The public prosecutor spoke of "unbelievable disrespect towards the patient and her own colleagues". The trial was adjourned and will continue in December.

More than a year ago, the scandal at the Graz neurosurgery department uncovered by the "Krone" came to light: according to the Graz public prosecutor's office, a twelve-year-old girl allegedly drilled open the head of a Styrian man during an emergency operation.

"She took the twelve-year-old girl into the operating theater, where she drilled a hole into the exposed skullcap alone and without help. Beforehand, the accused explained the function of the drilling device", prosecutor Julia Steiner describes the facts of the case. The second defendant, also a neurosurgeon, and the man who should actually have carried out the operation as the surgeon, is then said to have set the speed of the drill.

Something like that simply cannot be minimized. What would have happened if the drill had been defective and had not stopped automatically after breaking through the skull bone? It was all incredibly disrespectful towards the patient and her own colleagues!

Staatsanwältin Julia Steiner

Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU

After the operation, the surgeon is said to have bragged to her colleagues that her daughter had just made her first drill hole. "This flippant remark set off a bomb, which was of course a big mistake," agrees defense lawyer Bernhard Lehofer. Prosecutor Julia Steiner is convinced: "Something like that simply cannot be played down. What would have happened if the drill had been defective and had not stopped automatically after breaking through the skull bone! It was all incredibly disrespectful towards the patient and my own colleagues!"

"Criminal complaint springs from the imagination"
Lawyer Bernhard Lehofer, the surgeon's defense lawyer and mother, criticizes: "My client has saved the lives of countless people for 20 years. She has been sorry for more than two years now that it was not a good idea to take her child into surgery. Nevertheless, the operation went wonderfully and the patient is doing very well." He insists that the girl never drilled on her own, but merely held her hand on the device. Michael Kropiunig defends the surgeon. He is also convinced: "The patient was treated optimally, the criminal complaint is a fantasy!"

That was a moral and ethical mistake, I only realized later.

Der angeklagte Chirurg

His client is questioned first: "The daughter was introduced to me before the operation, the mother did it herself. I didn't pay much attention to it and didn't want to have a discussion about a child in the operating theater." She later came to the operating table and asked if she could help. "I was surprised by the question, but didn't turn down the offer. I turned to my colleague and asked if she could do it. She said 'Why not? But I had control of the drill."

"She never drilled alone"
That happened in the heat of the moment: "It was a moral and ethical mistake, I only realized that later," his voice suddenly begins to tremble and his eyes turn red. But: "She never drilled alone! And in the end, we can all be proud of the outcome of the operation."

The lawyers Bernhard Lehofer and Michael Kropiunig(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

"I said that out of stupid maternal pride"
During her questioning, the accused surgeon was plagued by gaps in her memory. Her daughter wanted to go into the operating theater with her and she didn't want to get involved in any big discussions. So she smuggled the child into the operating theater with her and gave the girl appropriate clothing. She later saw her daughter at the operating table, but didn't pay much attention to it because she already had to make phone calls about other cases. The fact that, according to her protégé, her daughter had placed her hand on his during the drilling process had escaped her notice - although she had recently agreed with this version during police questioning.

She had also not explicitly given her consent for the girl to take part - thus contradicting the statements of her protégé, whom she had also contacted several times and asked him to say that the child had never even been in the operating theater. "My biggest mistake was letting her go to the operating table," she admits. "Your biggest mistake was probably taking her in at all, a child has no place there," she corrects the judge. When asked why she bragged afterwards that her daughter had drilled her first hole, she replies: "I said that out of stupid motherly pride!"

It's terrible. The case is world-famous, people approach me from every continent. Neurosurgery enjoys such a high reputation. Now patients are afraid because of it. But respect for our patients is our damn duty!

Klinikleiter Stefan Wolfberger

When clinic director Stefan Wolfsberger received an anonymous tip-off, he summoned the surgeon to the office with his deputy: "I asked if the child had drilled. After a brief hesitation, he answered 'yes'." The story moves him: "It's terrible. The case is world-famous, people approach me from every continent. Neurosurgery enjoys such a high reputation. Now patients are afraid because of it. But respect for our patients is our damn duty!"

Tumor patient was afraid child could drill into him
Finally, the anesthetist is questioned. She heard the defendant explain the function of the drill to her daughter. "Then I could see four hands on the device," she describes - and turns to the defendant: "You don't know what you've done to all of us. I recently looked after a tumor patient who was afraid that a child could drill his head open!"

The trial had to be adjourned. The victim is ill and, according to the judge, his testimony is unavoidable.