Contaminated medication

Child (4) dies after dental surgery: long prison sentence for doctor

A four-year-old (symbolic image) died under anesthesia in Germany.(Bild: Alla - stock.adobe.com)

The German Gerald W. (67) administered contaminated injections to several small children before dental treatment. Four-year-old Emilia did not survive the botched anaesthetic. She died of sepsis. Three years after the tragedy, the anesthetist was convicted of manslaughter in the Frankfurt district court. Despite this, he is still at large.

A Supreme Court ruling that finally awarded the mother of a four-year-old who died from cough syrup in Kritzendorf (Lower Austria) in 2015 compensation for pain and suffering from the pharmaceutical company and manufacturer triggered great emotion.

Fungi and bacterial cultures
The tragic death of a four-year-old during a harmless treatment is also causing horror in Germany. In September 2021, little Emilia from Hesse broke a tooth while playing, which was to be repaired under anesthesia. The anesthetist has been on trial since August. According to the prosecution, the bottle containing the drug used by anaesthetist Gerald W. had been open for far too long and was contaminated with a fungus and two bacterial cultures.

According to the indictment, the doctor had already injured three children with the contaminated substance before the four-year-old's turn came. Two of them had to be artificially ventilated or treated in intensive care following organ failure and septic shock.

Emilia did not wake up after the operation. She died of sepsis. The doctor, who had a criminal record, called the emergency doctor far too late. If he had reacted sooner, the child would still be alive today.

Manslaughter and triple attempted manslaughter
"I must have unknowingly made mistakes in hygiene," the man says through his lawyer during the trial. "He had probably hoped, albeit without good reason, that everything would go well," said the presiding judge. After numerous days of hearings, the 67-year-old man with a criminal record was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison at Frankfurt District Court at the beginning of November - for manslaughter, three counts of attempted manslaughter, assault resulting in death and three counts of assault.

The unimaginable: the anaesthetist remains at large until the sentence is final. And that can take time ...