A doctor who worked at Ako Municipal Hospital in Hyogo Prefecture has been indicted without being charged for professional negligence resulting in injury.

Hiroki Matsui, 46, a neurosurgeon, is accused of mishandling a drill during a lumbar spine surgery on a 79-year-old woman in January 2020, severing a nerve in the patient's lower back, and causing permanent paralysis in both her legs, TV Asahi reported. The woman was also left with symptoms such as being unable to use the toilet without pain.

The woman had been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a condition in which nerves are compressed due to deformation of the hip bone, making it difficult to move the legs.

According to the hospital, Matsui has been involved in a number of medical accidents during surgeries he performed over a period of around six months since joining the hospital in 2019, resulting in the deaths of two patients and leaving six others with disabilities.

Matsui was subsequently banned from performing surgery by the hospital and resigned in 2021.

In September, the woman and her family filed a civil lawsuit for damages against Matsui.