Orthopedic was sentenced to 18 months in prison, with a three-year suspension, by the Single-member Misdemeanor Court of Thessaloniki for a mistake made in a rehabilitation intervention in former international basketball player Christos Tapoutosin a private clinic in Thessaloniki.

According to the indictment, the athlete was seriously injured in the median nerve, with the consequence of prematurely stopping basketball, as he said in his testimony in court.

The operation took place in April 2017 and six years later the orthopedic surgeon who had undertaken the rehabilitation was convicted of causing bodily harm by negligence, while his partner, also a surgeon, was found not guilty.

“The decision, after six years, is a moral vindication for him,” said defense attorney Gianna Panagopoulou.

The basketball player described in court that the operation it was done to repair a torn tendon in his left hand, but the doctor’s mistakes caused a serious injury to the median nerve of the hand, resulting in him suffering serious damage and having permanent disability.

“Serious medical errors caused a permanent physical disability to my client, National Team player and international basketball player Christos Tapoutos, who was forced to violently interrupt his professional career in basketball, while he was at his peak”, noted Mrs. Panagopoulou .

In his apology, the doctor denied the accusation of causing bodily harm, arguing that everything was done as planned, with the method that is appropriate, as he had done in other operations on basketball players.