Austrian doctors amputate patient's wrong leg

Vienna, July 3 : Doctors in an Austrian state amputated the wrong leg of a 91-year-old woman by mistake, and then had to cut off the infected leg too.

Surgeons at the St. Johann Hospital in Austria's western state of Tirol, conducted the wrong surgery June 16, and later realised that they amputated a healthy leg after the surgery was over.

A few days later, they performed the second amputation, which led to the patient losing both her both legs at the end.

The hospital admitted Friday in a press statement that the medical malpractice was caused by surgeon's mistake.

"We are most awfully sorry about the incident", its spokesman was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

The hospital suspended the irresponsible doctor after the incident.

Many medical malpractices caused by human negligence have occurred in Austria in the past few years. In March 2005, wrong medicine given by doctors led to the death of one patient.