Doctor Gets Probation in Lemon Juice Death

(Wegberg, Germany) A doctor and hospital owner, Arnold Pier, has been convicted and sentenced in Mönchengladbach District Court for causing bodily harm resulting in death of a patient when lemon juice was used to clean and disinfect wounds.

Pier's sentence of 15 months was suspended.

Seven people died in the private hospital in Wegberg after lemon juice was used rather than conventional sterile solutions, to clean and disinfect their operation wounds.

This was decided by the doctor and head of the clinic, Arnold Pier, who along with three other medics, has been charged with 64 counts of grievous bodily harm, concerning 18 patients.

Pier was found guilty of causing bodily harm resulting in death on Friday at the district court in Mönchengladbach. Two other medics involved in the care of that particular woman were exonerated.

The court found that Pier had not sufficiently explained the risks of the operation to the woman, and had not informed her of his intention to use lemon juice on her wounds. She suffered a serious infection after the operation and died.

“The use of lemon juice to treat the wounds of recently-operated patients is medical malpractice,” Judge Lothar Beckers said in his verdict.

He said staff at the hospital regularly used lemon juice under the regime of Pier. The juice was not prepared in sterile conditions, Beckers said, and its use, which probably caused additional pain, was not licensed and experimental in character.

Apparently, the 100-bed hospital was close to bankruptcy and cost savings were sought in all areas of hospital services. Astonishingly, one method of curtailing costs was to initiate a lemon juice drip to disinfect open wounds.

Dr. Pier's defense attorney contended that no experts have determined that lemon juice actually has a negative effect on patients while Pier said he only used it on wounds that didn't heal.