Allegations Against the Hospital

A Tragic Death Following a Simple Bone Fracture

Renate Hobiger cannot believe that her husband Alfred had to die. She is making serious accusations.(Bild: Krone-Collage/Sandra Pichler-Ramsauer)

A 74-year-old woman from Lower Austria makes serious allegations against a Vienna hospital in an interview with “Krone.” Her husband died just a few days after he had stumbled in his apartment. The hospital speaks of “proper medical care”—but apologizes...

“I took my husband to the hospital in good health, and he came out dead.” Renate Hobiger utters these words on the very day her “Fredi” would have turned 80. A milestone for the Leo, which he was no longer able to celebrate. On May 21, Alfred Hobiger had hopped off his exercise bike, cracked one last joke, and sprinted through the family’s Vienna apartment toward the bathroom—only to trip over a rug in the bedroom. And so fate took its course.

“He shouted, ‘Renate, I fell and can’t get up.’” The 79-year-old was taken by ambulance to Vienna General Hospital (AKH)—Emergency Room 19E. The diagnosis: avulsion fracture of the left greater trochanter, meaning a fracture of the upper thigh bone.

“The response I got was: ‘The doctor has patients who are really sick.’”
“Two days later, my husband could only mumble unintelligibly; the ward nurse just told him, ‘Don’t pretend—speak clearly.’ And, ‘Painkillers just make you tired.’” Renate Hobiger asked to speak with a doctor, she says. Her husband, says the native of Lower Austria, could no longer stand, walk, or eat. “The response I got was: ‘The doctor has patients who are really sick.’”

We were married for 51 years. And suddenly, from one moment to the next, he was gone. Forever. To me, he was the best person in the world. 

Renate Hobiger, Witwe

It wasn’t until four days after Hobiger’s admission that a blood test was performed—revealing a significantly elevated inflammation marker. Two days later, Renate suddenly found herself standing in front of an empty bed at the AKH; it was 2:00 p.m. “Oh, so they didn’t notify you?” the ward nurse is said to have asked the 74-year-old. Her husband, to whom she had been married for 51 years, was transferred to a rehab facility in the 4th district. From there, he was taken directly to the Landstraße Clinic because the inflammation marker in his blood kept rising and rising.

“The doctors were amazing; he was monitored around the clock. But it was too late.” On May 30, Renate was still holding her husband’s hand—“He squeezed so tightly”—and by June 1, he was dead. Multiple organ failure! Hobiger: “He was a perfectly healthy man and had to die because of negligence.”

In an interview with the “Krone,” Renate Hobiger is demanding an explanation from the hospital.(Bild: Sandra Pichler-Ramsauer)

The AKH’s statement on the death of 
 The AKHsaid the followingregardingthe tragedy: “First of all, we would like to express our sincere condolences to the wife of the deceased patient. We deeply regret that communication was not as effective as our own standards for dealing with family members would require.”

The patient was “treated for pain in accordance with his injury and, as far as possible, mobilized with weight-bearing exercises and a walker.” This was also documented by the attending physical therapist. According to the AKH, surgery was not necessary for this type of injury, and ongoing laboratory tests had shown a decrease in inflammation markers.

Alfred Hobiger died shortly before his 80th birthday.(Bild: Sandra Pichler-Ramsauer)

Apology for “poor” communication
“Following an X-ray examination, the patient was able to be transferred to a rehabilitation center while remaining fever-free”; the medical treatment at Vienna General Hospital was “correct and appropriate for the injury.” We would like to expressly apologize to Mrs. Hobiger for the poor communication. “We deeply regret the patient’s subsequent death.”