Surgeon fined for forgery of patient records in Varsinais-Suomi

The District Court of Varsinais-Suomi has sentenced a private plastic surgeon to a fine for two counts of forgery in patient records. The incidents involved two patients who underwent plastic surgery at a private clinic specialized in this field.

The first patient experienced complications following surgery in 2019 and subsequently filed a complaint with the Patient Insurance Center. The second patient, who had surgery in 2016, was dissatisfied with the results and visited the clinic four times in 2019, also lodging a complaint in September.

The prosecutor’s challenge indicated that the defendant made multiple unauthorized alterations to the medical records of both patients after becoming aware of their complaints. According to the charges, the surgeon removed and added information, including the acceptance of surgical risks and discussions concerning complication risks related to hair extensions for the second patient. Additionally, the defendant omitted a note stating that the patient did not smoke.

The defendant denied the allegations, arguing that the modifications to the medical records were justified and accurate. However, a statement from the Data Protection Ombudsman presented in court deemed the changes unlawful. It asserted that alterations made after the conclusion of treatment were unnecessary and indicated that if these modifications aimed to address medical error reports, they could not be justified as related to patient care.

The court ultimately sentenced the surgeon to pay 70 day fines, amounting to nearly €10,000, along with €3,300 to the plaintiffs for suffering and close to €30,000 in legal costs. The ruling is not yet final.