The Regional Council of Medicine of Paraná is investigating the conduct of a doctor accused of operating on a patient’s wrong knee.
The investigation will investigate whether or not there was an error in Luciano Malerba’s conduct in accordance with the category’s Code of Ethics, reported CRM-PR.
If the doctor’s responsibility is proven, the disciplinary penalties provided range from a confidential warning to a warning reserved for revocation of professional practice. The process runs in secrecy. According to the Council, the doctor “has been regularly registered in Paraná since April 2001”.
Bianca Petermann Stoeckl, 42, was sent for surgery on her left knee. However, the doctor would have performed the procedure on the right knee. The case occurred on April 24, 2023, at the Unimed Hospital, in Foz do Iguaçu (PR).
The report tries to locate the doctor’s defense. The space is open for demonstrations.
THE CASE
Bianca filed a police report at the Foz do Iguaçu Civil Police Station shortly after realizing the error. The police station indicted the doctor for the crime of bodily harm and, in August, forwarded the case to the MPPR (Public Ministry of Paraná), which is analyzing whether it will file a complaint against Malerba.
The server explained that she had noticed that she had undergone surgery on the wrong knee during the post-operative period. “When I lifted the cover, my right knee was operated on. I called the team and said ‘the doctor operated on my wrong leg’. And there [disseram] ‘but it will be?’. And I said ‘I’m sure’”, he explained in an interview with RPCTV, a Globo affiliate.
She also said she feared that the wrong procedure could affect her life. “Wow, it’s my knee, I’m not a chair that changes a screw there. I don’t know what problems this will cause me in the future. I feel like I’m a piece of something. Medical error is a very serious thing for those who suffer from it,” she highlighted.
On his right knee, Stoeckl was left with a scar and a screw from a plate. In July, she underwent another surgery, this time to operate on her left knee, which was injured – the operation was carried out by another surgeon.
In a statement, Unimed said that it is offering assistance to Bianca Petermann Stoeckl and that it is cooperating with the investigations.
