Overview

• On July 1, a Wuppertal district court convicted the 64-year-old dentist of unlawful detention, dangerous bodily harm and hygiene violations and sentenced him to two years in prison without probation.
• Judges concluded he forcibly restrained a patient who tried to end treatment and performed an abscess incision without consent to avert a potential sepsis.
• The court found he used inadequately sterilized instruments after losing his cleaning contract and lacked the mandatory sterilization equipment in his practice.
• The dentist argued that his actions were necessary to save the patient from a life-threatening blood poisoning.
• The verdict is not yet legally binding and the case will move to the appeals court.