Overview

• The Federal Court of Justice annulled the Hamburg court’s July 2024 rulings, vacating the dentist’s acquittal and setting aside the anesthetist’s suspended conviction
• The BGH found no procedural errors to the anesthetist’s detriment but directed the Hamburg court to review mitigating factors such as a legal-error defense and compensation for trial delays
• Judges must now conduct a full retrial of the dentist after failing to evaluate her role in planning and communicating an anesthesia that exceeded the eight-hour schedule
• The case stems from a May 2016 operation in Altona where an 18-year-old died of heart failure and pulmonary edema when his dental surgery under general anesthesia was prolonged
• No new hearing dates or sentencing adjustments have yet been set by the Hamburg court, leaving the next procedural steps open