Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News 

This surgeon has been forced to pay 200,000 EUR to the family of a baby whose penis he burnt during an operation.

The surgeon, named in reports as paediatrician Bogdan Savu, carried out the operation at the Saint Mary Emergency Children Hospital in the Romanian city of Iasi in 2008.

According to the child’s mother, Mihaela M., she took her 27-week-old son to the hospital in November 2008 as had inflammation in the penis area.

The tot was diagnosed with Congenital Phimosis, which sees sufferers unable to retract the foreskin behind the glans penis, with doctors recommending surgery performed with electrocautery to treat it.

Electrocautery sees an electrical passed through a resistant metal wire electrode, generating heat. The heated electrode is then applied to living tissue to create haemostasis or degrees of tissue destruction.

During the intervention, the electric shock caused first and second-degree burns in the dorsal part of the baby’s penis, reportedly leaving lasting damage.

The case was brought before the Lasi Court of Appeal after it initially reached the Prosecutor’s Office in 2013.

The court has now ruled the doctor, along with the hospital, must split the payment of 200,000 EUR (170,000 GBP) for moral damages and 16,000 EUR (13,537 GBP) for material damages to the boy’s family.

According to his job description Savu “was responsible for the good use of the medical equipment” and had to ensure that the device was working at normal parameters before starting the procedure.

During the hearing at the Prosecutor’s Office, Savu said: “I’m not guilty of committing the crime and the baby was injured due to an alleged electrical failure.

Savu also said that during the intervention, he initiated the procedure using the device at minimum intensity, but, when he noticed that it did not produce the expected effects, he set it to the next level, but the instrument produced a current of excessive intensity, which led to the burns.

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