Court upholds convictions over sevenfold medication overdose

A doctor and a nurse have been convicted over the fatal administration of a sevenfold medication dose to a nursing home resident, ORF reported. The Graz Higher Regional Court on Tuesday upheld their convictions, making the ruling final.

The 86-year-old man, who lived at a nursing home in Deutschlandsberg, died in 2024, partly as a result of the excessive dose, according to an expert report.

When the pensioner entered the home in early 2024, another doctor had prescribed the medication as “one daily, weekly dose: six units”. The nurse mistakenly interpreted the instruction as six units every day.

As a result, the man received 42 units per week instead of six, seven times the intended dose. The nursing home’s doctor, who was also charged, confirmed the incorrect dosage.

The Graz Regional Criminal Court convicted both of grossly negligent homicide. The nurse was sentenced to a 9,000 euro fine and four months in prison suspended on probation. The doctor received a 28,000 euro fine and the same suspended prison sentence.

Both appealed. The appeals court said the first-instance court had fully assessed the evidence and upheld its ruling. It also noted that it would be “strange even to a medical layperson” for the prescription to call for 42 tablets a week.