A German Surgeon Is In Serious Trouble For Asking A Janitor To Help With A Toe Amputation

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AP NEWS- BERLIN  — Officials at a hospital in western Germany have expressed regret after it emerged that one of their surgeons got a cleaner to assist in a toe amputation.

Public broadcaster SWR reported Friday that the incident at the Mainz University Hospital, which happened in 2020, didn’t result in any complications to the patient but the doctor has since been fired.

The hospital’s chief executive, Norbert Pfeiffer, said the surgeon wrongly decided to go ahead with the routine procedure even though no qualified assistant was available, SWR reported.

When the patient, who had received a local anesthetic, became restless the doctor asked a nearby cleaner to hold the man’s leg and pass surgical instruments, according to local daily Mainzer Allgemeine Zeitung. The paper reported that the cleaner had no medical experience.

The incident came to light after a hospital manager spotted the cleaner — bloody gauze pads in hand — in the operating theater, it reported.

“This should never have happened,” German news agency dpa quoted Pfeiffer as saying.

Fun little story here out of Germany, just a routine trip into the hospital for a toe amputation and since the hospital was short staffed so they used a janitor/custodial engineer. Wait what? Is that even legal? What is going on here ? A lot to unpack. Let's breakdown the maniacs in this scenario.

First up, the janitor. I want to clearly put him at 2nd of most blame, but the more I think about it, the more I have a different take. I do think this poor sap janitor was just doing what he was told. He likely was worried about just keeping his job, and keeping food on the table. I also think he was probably TERRIFIED when the surgeon asked him to help. The surgeon could have asked him to do anything at that point and he would have said yes. For that reason, I do want to shift some of the blame off this janitor. 

Then I think about the world in which this janitor KNEW he was not qualified to assist in a medical procedure, and helped anyway. This sick sick puppy helped AMPUTATE a toe when he had zero business doing it. That's a dark and twisted individual. If you can knowingly act like a doctor, when you have no right to you need help. This guy reminds me of Leo in Catch Me If You Can just faking his way to being a doctor. Lunatic behavior. He may be the worst of the worst in this story. 

Then of course, the surgeon. What an asshole. No one was around to help so you get a janitor? This guy should be disbarred from the medical field forever. This is almost like he had something against the patient. You grab the first guy you see pushing a mop and say "hey pal come hold this guy's toe down while I hack it off? " I almost hope this patient did something really bad to the surgeon because at least then he would have had motivation, to just do it randomly is a SAVAGE move. 

You be the judge, who's the bigger asshole - The janitor or the surgeon?