Doctor sentenced to prison after death of 12-year-old girl

Detmold. Six years after the death of a 12-year-old girl in a hospital in the Lippe district, the Detmold District Court sentenced a doctor to prison for negligent homicide.

The doctor was sentenced to two years and six months in prison. Due to the length of the proceedings, four months of his sentence were reduced. The verdict is not yet legally binding. A nurse who was also charged was acquitted.

The court found it proven that the doctor had violated his duty of care. Although the cause of death could not be definitively determined even by several experts, including a forensic pathologist.

According to a pediatrician, the 52-year-old administered the wrong IV solution after the child had suffered from a multi-day gastrointestinal infection. Furthermore, he should have had the child more closely monitored during the night. The mother had unsuccessfully raised the alarm several times during the night.

The parents had their child taken to the hospital by ambulance one evening in December 2019 after she suffered from a multi-day gastrointestinal infection with fever. The girl was admitted to the intensive care unit the following morning and was resuscitated there for over an hour – ultimately without success. (dpa)