A surgical doctor at a hospital in western Germany was fired for violating regulations after enlisting the help of a janitor during a local anesthesia surgery when the patient became agitated and started moving around. In the year 2020, the incident occurred during a toe amputation procedure at the University Hospital of Mainz. After two other surgical doctors were called to the emergency room, the doctor was left alone with an unqualified assistant.
To ensure that the surgery went smoothly, the doctor temporarily hired a caretaker to help with restraint and handing over surgical tools. The procedure was eventually successful. However, the presence of the caretaker in the operating room with a blood-soaked cloth was later found by a hospital manager, resulting in the incident being publicized.
While the patient had no major difficulties and no postoperative issues, the hospital was unsure about the fate of the amputated toe and whether it was treated properly. The hospital administration stated emphatically that “this should not have happened,” and the doctor who broke the rules was fired the following year.
