Pediatrician found guilty of negligent death of boy

An appeals court in Thessaloniki has handed a hospital pediatrician a suspended sentence after finding him guilty of the death through medical negligence of a four-year-old boy.

In May 2017, the child was taken by his parents to the hospital with severe abdominal pain and vomiting but he died a few hours later due to a twisted bowel.

The court found the doctor guilty because he did not properly evaluate the incident, based on the child’s symptoms, and did not organize his transfer to a larger hospital.

This forced the parents to transport the child in their own vehicle to a nursing facility in Thessaloniki, where, finally, despite the efforts of the doctors, he died.

The doctor denied criminal responsibility, saying the regional hospital he worked at did not have the equipment to adequately diagnose the child’s ailment.

The court sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for three years, for the manslaughter of the boy.