Danish News in Brief: Peter Madsen ordered to pay compensation to family of victim

In other news, Uber drivers should find out today whether their fines have been upheld by the Supreme Court

Ross James McPherson

Sep 13, 2018

The appeal trial of Peter Madsen – the Dane convicted of murdering Kim Wall, a 30-year-old Swedish journalist, in his submarine last year – continued yesterday.

Madsen has agreed to pay 150,000 kroner to the parents of Kim Wall and 120,000 kroner to her boyfriend, Ole Stobbe, as compensation for the loss, it emerged.

Tomorrow he will learn if his appeal against a life sentence has been successful. It is widely predicted it will be reduced to 16 years.

Supreme Court ruling due in Uber case today
The Supreme Court will today make a ruling in the case of the four Uber drivers fined for not paying tax in 2015. The ride-hailing service was prohibited from operating in Denmark in 2017 when the government changed the taxi law. The four fines range from 40,000 to 486,500 kroner, and a high court appeal has already failed to change the original city court verdict.

Treatment wording altered following overdose death
The text on packets of Methotrexate, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and also used in chemotherapy, has been changed after a careworker confused the dosage in May and caused the death of a 80-year-old woman. The careworker gave the woman twice the recommended dosage . From now on, the text “once a week” will be displayed more prominently and in red. Around 27,801 people had a prescription for Methotrexate at a pharmacy in 2016, according to Sundhedsdatastyrelsen.

Mexican doctor frustrated by language barrier
The media have jumped on the case of Juan Manuel Medina, a highly-educated Mexican doctor with a PhD from Aarhus University Hospital who does not meet the language requirements to work independently as a specialist. While Medina is confident he can speak Danish, many patients say they can’t understand what he’s saying. His colleagues, on the other hand, comprehend him perfectly. Medina, who has been in Denmark since 2009, will remain in Denmark but only work as a medical officer – a role beneath his talents.

Danish labour needs more help
The employment minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, has said that some municipalities are simply not good enough at decreasing the number of unemployed people receiving benefits. Aalborg and Aabenraa are among the municipalities singled out by the minister, where heavy investment has not yielded many results.