A German obstetrician-gynaecologist, suspected of having committed serious medical errors in France, is said to be currently practising in Luxembourg, French daily Le Monde reports.

A chilling testimonial published in Le Monde this weekend quotes Philippe Scheins, whose wife Véronique nearly died at the age of 54 after a routine examination. In 2018, she underwent a hysteroscopy at the hospital of Montélimar (Drôme) by a German obstetrician gynaecologist, Le Monde writes.

The examination, which makes it possible to visualise the inside of the uterus, is in principle relatively painless, but the the woman said she had undergone "an act of torture", explaining that "the doctor made a false diagnosis and ploughed my belly without looking at his control screen during an examination that should never have taken place." A legal expert report in December of 2019 established a "17 cm wide evisceration at the level of the under-umbilical part of the abdomen", and concluded a "permanent functional deficit" of 55%.

Philippe Scheins explains: "My wife is a miracle: she was placed in an artificial coma and saved by vascular surgeons. And this after losing 5 litres of blood due to the doctor's intervention, which caused considerable damage. Since then, it has been a nightmare. She is severely handicapped."

He lists the resulting problems: "Abdominal pain, wearing a urinary catheter and a belt to hold her stomach devoid of muscles and the lumbar vertebrae, weakening of a kidney, incontinence, multiple operations, and travelling in a medical wheelchair."

Struck off medical register

The doctor, the daily continues, was allegedly indicted following the filing of a complaint by the Scheins couple in June 2018 for "involuntary injuries with a total work incapacity of more than three months" and was placed under judicial supervision.

In May 2019, he was also reportedly struck off the medical register by the Court of Lorraine. Previously, at the end of 2018, he had also worked a month in Guadeloupe before his contract was terminated, with the director of the medical establishment reporting "violence towards patients".

However, this doctor, aged 50, is currently working in a gynaecology centre in Luxembourg and is registered with the Grand Duchy's medical college, notes Le Monde, which states that this establishment did not respond to their requests.

The Scheins couple's lawyer, quoted by Le Monde, refers to a failure of the institutions: "In the absence of centralisation, there is no transmission of information and monitoring in France and Europe concerning doctors classified as dangerous".