Woman wins 7,500 euro after awaking during abdominal surgery

Photo: Woman wins 7,500 euro after awaking during abdominal surgery

An Austrian woman who claimed to had awoken during major abdominal surgery but hadn’t been able to tell doctors she felt terrible pain was awarded EUR7,500 (US$11,000) by a court.

The 62-year-old retiree in the southern Austrian province of Carinthia had demanded nearly EUR39,000 (US$57,300) in compensation for mental and physical suffering during the October 2002 operation, public broadcaster ORF reported.

The court rejected the amount, ruling that there was insufficent proof that the unidentified woman regained full consciousness and throwing out her claim of malpractice.

Her lawyer had argued that the anesthesiologist had forgotten to attach a tube through which the patient was to be kept under sedation. The woman testified she could feel the surgeons using a scalpel and other instruments on her, but was unable to speak or move.

Wednesday's ruling ended a three-year legal battle.