Craiova surgeon receives suspended sentence and professional ban for fatal surgery
A surgeon in Craiova was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, suspended, for involuntary manslaughter after a patient died during a 2019 operation, and was barred from practicing thoracic surgery for four years.
The Craiova Court of Appeal confirmed the conviction of surgeon Demetrian Alin Dragoș for involuntary manslaughter, imposing a two-year-six-month prison term that will be suspended under a three-year probation period. He is also prohibited from practicing as a thoracic surgery specialist for four years in any health system. The appeal by the doctor and the County Emergency Clinical Hospital was dismissed, while the appeals filed by the victim’s relatives were accepted, leading to higher moral damages for the spouse and five children.
Both the surgeon and the hospital were ordered to pay the increased compensation jointly, in the local currency at the time of payment. The fatal incident stemmed from a 2019 operation in which the surgeon mistakenly cut the right brachiocephalic trunk, causing massive hemorrhage and the patient’s death.
Why it matters
The case highlights legal accountability for medical errors and imposes professional restrictions on a surgeon involved in a fatal procedure.
In this story
