A surgeon has been definitively convicted of involuntary manslaughter following the death of a patient operated on at Craiova County Hospital

A specialist in thoracic surgery has been definitively sentenced by the Craiova Court of Appeal to two years and six months’ imprisonment, suspended, for involuntary manslaughter in a case concerning the death of a patient operated on in September 2019 at the Craiova County Emergency Clinical Hospital.

The court upheld the sentence handed down by the Craiova District Court on February 5, 2026, but dismissed as unfounded the appeals filed by the doctor and the hospital. Enforcement of the sentence is suspended under supervision for three years. During this period, the doctor must comply with the measures imposed by the court and perform 100 days of unpaid community service at the „Alexandru and Aristia Aman” County Library or the „Colibri” Children’s and Youth Theatre in Craiova.

The Court of Appeal also barred the doctor from practicing as a specialist in thoracic surgery for four years, in both the public and private sectors.

According to the allegations in the case, during the surgery the doctor severed the patient’s right brachiocephalic trunk, causing massive bleeding. The patient subsequently died.

Compensation awarded to the family was definitively increased to 150,000 euros: 50,000 euros for the wife and 20,000 euros for each of the five children. The doctor and the hospital were jointly and severally liable for payment of the amounts.