Court orders 'open wide' for dentist

[YogsVR4]

http://www.expatica.com/germany.asp?...&item_id=31440



WERNIGERODE - In a bizarre case which has made headlines nationwide, a judge in Germany Wednesday issued a court order for an 8-year-old school girl to open wide for dental check-ups at school.

Saying the school dentist was exercising her capacity as an officer of the public schools, Judge Herbert Laudan upheld a EUR 100 fine which had been assessed by local authorities for the girl's failure to comply with a direct medical order.

In addition, the judge slapped court costs on the girl's parents and instructed them to see to it that she opened her mouth the next time the dentist asked her to do so.

Under the glare of television cameras, eight-year-old Ann-Sophie Krebs hid her face in her mother's skirts and held her father's hand outside the court house in the town of Wernigerode Wednesday.

"This is an outrage," Ann-Sophie's mother Brigitte Krebs told RTL Television. "She is frightened to death of dentists to start with and now she will be completely traumatised the next time the dentist comes any where near her."

The Krebs family argued that, in advance of the school dental check-up, they had tendered a note from Ann-Sophie's family dentist attesting to the fact that she suffers from dental phobia. They asked the school dentist to exercise restraint in insisting on having their daughter open her mouth.

Instead, when Ann-Sophie clamped stubbornly shut, the school dentist reprimanded her in front of the other pupils and notified authorities of the lapse, saying an example needed to be made.

"We could not permit a schoolgirl to set such a precedent," a Wernigerode town official told RTL. "If children start refusing to obey a medical professional who is acting in their own good, then where will it all end?"

Judge Laudan told reporters after the ruling that his hands were tied. "I am bound by the law," he said. "There was absolutely no leeway for me to arrive at any other decision."

While agreeing to pay the fine and court costs without appealing to a higher court, the Krebs family said they felt a dangerous precedent had been set.

"What does this tell us about the rights of the individual in this society?" the girl's mother said. "I hate to think how she'll react the next time the dentist comes for a check-up. I just pray she opens her mouth."

[jon@af]

That sounds kinda gay

[Atomis27]

When my wife was little, she had to go for a checkup at the dentist's. He managed to het his fingers in her mouth, which turned out to be a mistake. She clamped down and bit him to the bone.

'Course, this was in a day and time when such things would be taken as "hazards of the job" instead of "lawsuit fodder". Her explanation? "He was gonna stick me with a needle!":hehehe: :hehehe: :hehehe: