convicted of desecration
Zurich doctor massaged patient’s breasts during gastroscopy
A doctor from Winterthur was convicted of desecration because he massaged the breasts of a drugged patient during a gastroscopy. He is therefore not allowed to open his own practice.
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A Zurich doctor is not allowed to open his own practice because of desecration. (icon picture)
A doctor from the canton of Zurich was rebuffed before the administrative court. He is still not allowed to open his own practice, but must be supervised at work. The reason for this is that he had massaged the breasts of an anesthetized patient during a gastroscopy.
The administrative court came to the conclusion that it was necessary for patient safety to supervise him until further notice. The doctor from Winterthur can continue to practice, but has to be employed. He must inform his employer about his conviction and must not be left alone with drugged patients.
As the administrative court writes in its recently published judgment, this should “complicate the job search”. Under the present circumstances, however, the public interest should be given greater weight than his private interest.
Winterthur district court acquitted him
The judgment of the administrative court is not yet final. The doctor can still take it to federal court. The doctor had appealed against a decision by the Health Department because he wanted to run a practice again himself, but the Health Department forbade him to do so.
In 2016, after a gastroscopy, he grabbed the breasts of a still sleeping patient and massaged and kneaded them. The nurse spoke to him about it and got the case rolling. The Winterthur district court acquitted him, but the Zurich higher court imposed a conditional prison sentence of 14 months for desecration.
The Federal Supreme Court upheld this judgment. The doctor denies the allegations and even went to the European Court of Human Rights, where the case has not yet been decided. (SDA/jmh)