A quiet hospital ward in Salzburg has become the center of a deeply unsettling case, after an 83 year old woman died following a medication error that should never have happened, according to oe24.
The woman, already frail after suffering a hip fracture, had been recovering in a geriatric unit when she was repeatedly given the painkiller Novalgin over several weeks in early 2025. What makes the case so troubling is that her intolerance to the drug had been clearly recorded in her medical files. Yet somehow, that critical warning was overlooked.
A medical expert later confirmed that the medication, containing metamizole, caused her death in March.
In court, the two doctors responsible for her treatment admitted fault. Their voices carried regret as they apologized to the woman’s family. One of them acknowledged that he had prescribed the drug himself and could not explain how the allergy warning disappeared from a key chart. He called it a singular but devastating mistake and accepted responsibility.
The second doctor said he had relied on his colleague’s judgment and continued the treatment in good faith, never suspecting the danger.
The court found both men guilty of negligent homicide, though not gross negligence. They were ordered to pay substantial fines, reflecting the seriousness of the error, even as the judge stopped short of calling it extreme carelessness.
What makes the tragedy more complex is that the patient initially appeared to improve. There were no immediate signs that her body was reacting badly. Only weeks later, when her condition suddenly worsened and she developed a fever, did doctors realize something was wrong. By then, it was too late.
The hospital reported the incident to authorities itself, and the case has since drawn attention to the risks of manual record keeping and communication gaps in busy wards.
For the woman’s family, the legal outcome cannot undo the loss. They are now seeking compensation but more than that, they are left with questions about how a clearly documented warning could simply vanish, with fatal consequences.
