It wasn’t even “Take Your Daughter to Work Day.” An unnamed Austrian neurosurgeon is under criminal investigation after letting her 13-year-old daughter drill a hole into some guy’s head during a surgical procedure.
The patient was a 33-year-old man who had been injured in a forestry accident. He needed emergency surgery at Graz University Hospital in Graz, Austria, back in January 2024. The surgeon’s daughter was somehow allowed to drill a hole into the patient’s skull. The surgery was successful, so good for her. I hope she has a bright future as a neurosurgeon ahead of her.
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But also, what the fuck, why didn’t anyone stop this?
According to Kronen Zeitung, an Austrian newspaper, the case finally came to light after someone filed an anonymous complaint back in April. The worst part about that is that the poor patient who had a middle schooler drilling into his skull first found out about all of this through media reports. Even then, he wasn’t officially informed by police until July.
The neurosurgeon and one other specialist involved in the surgery have been fired. Five other people involved in the procedure are now under investigation.
According to the patient’s lawyer, the hospital hasn’t even issued an apology or an explanation of how this could have happened.
“You lie there. Unwilling, unconscious, and become guinea pigs,” said the lawyer. “There’s probably no other way to put it… that’s not possible. You can’t do that.”
In response, the hospital has taken a firm stance of, “Hey, man, at least you’re alive, right? “