Surgeon accused of unnecessary operations partially suspended by health ministry

Luxembourg’s health ministry has partially suspended a surgeon accused of carrying out unnecessary knee operations, barring him from performing surgery but allowing him to continue providing consultations, the doctor’s lawyer said on Friday.

The decision follows the surgeon’s suspension by Hospitals Robert Schuman, where he had been practising. According to a statement released on Friday morning by his lawyer, François Prum, Health Minister Martine Deprez ordered a “partial suspension of the right to practise” from the surgeon, a move the defence is contesting.

Prum told Contacto that the partial suspension means the doctor is prohibited from performing surgeries, but can continue to provide consultations.

In his press release on Friday, Prum criticised the decision, describing it as “arbitrary and disproportionate” and accusing the authorities of serious procedural failings. “This ministerial decision constitutes a new and serious violation of the fundamental principles of the rule of law, adding to a succession of particularly serious procedural irregularities attributed both to the Medical College and to the ministerial authority,” he said. 

The lawyer said his client “firmly contests all unfounded accusations” made against him, arguing that they are based on anonymous reports which do not allow “the effective exercise of the right to defense”.

The measures taken risk causing lasting damage to the reputation of a doctor “recognised for his competence and professionalism”, according to Prum, who confirmed that the decision to suspend the surgeon is being appealed to the Administrative Court.

The case centres on allegations that the surgeon performed unnecessary knee operations. Earlier this week Robert Schuman Hospitals provisionally suspended the surgeon after six doctors from the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) accused a colleague of performing unnecessary knee operations.

In a letter addressed to CHL Director General Martine Goergen – seen by RTL – the doctors allege that the surgeon carried out anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction procedures on patients whose ligaments were later found to be intact. Some of the patients involved were reportedly treated at CHL following the procedures in question.

 (This article was originally published by Contacto. Machine translated using AI, and edited by Kabir Agarwal.)