STA, 11 March - The Maribor District Court has found a GP guilty of abuse of power and violation of sexual integrity of a minor, newspapers reported on Monday. The prosecution sought a prison sentence and a temporary ban on practising medicine, but the court decided to hand down a suspended sentence of 18 months.
The ruling is not yet final, the prosecution will appeal against the ruling, handed down on Friday, while the defence is still considering an appeal.
The case goes back to autumn of 2016, when a 16-year-old girl came to see GP Davorin Kolarič to get a doctor's note for missing a phys-ed class. The GP allegedly touched her breasts and genitals, which he denied in court.
However, the newspaper Dnevnik reports that he admitted in the course of the investigation that he stripped the girl down to her knees, placed her on her stomach and went on to examine her lymph nodes without putting on gloves. He said he suspected she might have mononucleosis.
Court-appointed expert witness Anton Gradišek told the court that Kolarič should not have stripped the patient without forewarning. Moreover, examination of lymph nodes does not require touching genitals and breasts.
If Kolarič really suspected mononucleosis, he should have also taken her temperature and felt the lymph nodes in the neck and under the jaw, according to the expert witness. Kolarič did not do any of this, Dnevnik says.
Immediately after the incident, the patient turned for help to a telephone helpline for children and youths, which advised her to contact the patients' rights ombudsman.
The latter set up a mediation process between the patient and the Lenart health centre where Kolarič worked at the time.
At the mediation meeting, Kolarič apologised for failing to explain the course of the exam and failing to request her permission. Moreover, Lenart health centre boss Jože Kramberger offered the 16-year-old his resignation.
Disappointed with the mediation, the patient reported Kolarič to the police. In the trial, the prosecution demanded that he be sent to prison and temporarily prohibited from practising medicine.
However, the panel of judges in charge of the case said on Friday that a ban on medical practice for Kolarič would be too severe a punishment because the incident was "merely" a quick examination that did not leave severe and lasting mark on the victim.
The judges also advised the victim to file a separate lawsuit in order to get compensation from Kolarič, Dnevnik said.
Meanwhile, the Medical Chamber condemned the alleged incident. President Zdenka Čebašek Travnik ordered a review by the chamber's ethics body, which may result in Kolarič losing his medical licence.
She also said that there should not have been a mediation in this case. When violence is involved, mediation is not the right course of action, said Čebašek Travnik, who believes the victim did the right thing by going to the police.
She moreover expressed the belief that such cases were rare, adding however that the medical profession would only be respected if the cases were addressed and not swept under the carpet. The chamber has handled abuse cases in the past and some doctors have been sentenced to prison, she added.
Kolarič has been reviewed by the chamber in the past but not in relation to this case, according to Čebašek Travnik. Minor irregularities were determined, which Kolarič addressed to the chamber's satisfaction.
