Incorrect entry

Hospital made man “demented”

Treatment at Baden Regional Hospital had after-effects for a 55-year-old man: The diagnosis in the doctor's letter made the man shudder - it included everything from dementia to a pacemaker.

(Bild: Huber Patrick)

An incorrect diagnosis caused a patient to shudder: the doctor's letter listed illnesses such as Alzheimer's or kidney failure. The man was being treated for a fractured femur at Baden Regional Hospital in Lower Austria.

What is going on with the hospital in Baden? Anita K. wants to get to the bottom of this question. For the woman from Kottingbrunn, the "misfortunes" she experienced are difficult to understand. After her husband suffered a fractured femur in an accident at work, he was operated on in hospital and the fracture was stabilized with nails. After his recovery, the 55-year-old returned to work.

But only a short time later, Markus K. complained of severe pain. He was again admitted to the Baden Regional Hospital. After an X-ray, he was certain: "There is a fracture of the nail at the level of the femoral neck blade, unsatisfactory wound healing and loosening of the distal screw," the doctor's letter reads. "Something must have gone wrong during the first operation," says Anita K., also identifying material failure.

Her husband was operated on again in mid-June and the screws were removed. On June 20, he was discharged from hospital and returned to home care. In his luggage: a doctor's letter with astonishing content - at least from the patient's point of view. The 55-year-old was terrified by the diagnosis. It included everything from Alzheimer's to kidney failure and a pacemaker.

A case for the patient advocate
"How can something like this happen?" K. is worried. It was only after repeated requests from the hospital that the patient finally received the new findings by post on August 29. "I just think it's outrageous," says the wife. The case is now with the patient's lawyer.

"Unfortunately, there was an incorrect entry, but it had no effect whatsoever. The actual diagnoses were never 'suppressed' or replaced at any time," says the state health agency. The incorrect entry had been corrected. The discharge letters subsequently issued to the patient were always correct. A material error is also denied.