Icelandic state denies compensation claim for death of Andemariam Beyene following 2011 operation
The Icelandic state has refused to pay compensation for the death of Andemariam Beyene, who died in 2014 following an operation in 2011. The claim was based on the responsibility of the Landspítalinn (National University Hospital of Iceland) and therefore the Icelandic state for the actions of heart surgeon Tómas Guðbjartsson.
Andemariam Beyene passed away on January 30, 2014, after a plastic trachea surgery at the Karolinska University Hospital in June 2011. The claim was based on the rule of employer’s responsibility of Landspítalinn, and therefore the Icelandic state as the employer of Tómas Guðbjartsson, a heart surgeon, at the time the operation took place. This is according to a response from the state attorney to the lawyer of Andemariam’s widow.
The state attorney’s letter reveals that Tómas’ participation in the operation is explained by the fact that he was Andemariam’s treating physician and was also supposed to be responsible for the post-operative care in Iceland. His involvement in the operation was at the request of the Italian doctor Macchiarini and the management of the Karolinska Hospital, and the operation was not the responsibility of Landspítalinn.