16.7°C Sunny 
38
A disgraced German orthopedic surgeon embroiled in a bitter marital break-up told a judge Wednesday his ex-wife is doing nothing to become financially independent.
Dr. Hans Friedl, who moved to Canada from Germany in 2001, was in court wanting changes to a divorce court order requiring him to turn over family assets and pay support to his ex-wife.
The doctor said his financial circumstances have changed since the order was made in 2008 and he can no longer make the payments required.
Friedl was the medical director of the department of trauma surgery at the University of Freiburg in Breisgau from 1997 to 2000, and a highly regarded professor. When he was named the university’s medical director, Friedl, 37, was the youngest surgical professor in Germany.
The doctor’s brilliant career went off course, however, after he was accused of badly botching several surgeries.
He became the controversial centre of a German media storm in the late 1990s as stories emerged of problems some of his patients reported about their treatment at Friedl’s hands.
He was suspended from his duties at the university in May 2000. Shortly after, he was charged by German authorities with intentionally causing bodily harm and falsifying surgical records. He pleaded guilty in 2003 and was fined roughly $37,000, according to stories published by the German media.
The sentence, perceived as light by the German public, according to news sources, created its own controversy that continues there even today, especially after the doctor received a severance payment of more than $3 million from his former employers.
In Kamloops court Wednesday, Friedl suggested his ex is doing nothing to move on with her life.
“I want to raise the question, how will this evolve? Will this be an eternal situation where no attempts will be made to get on with life and become independent?” Friedl said.
“There are many questions, no answers. The situation is very certainly immature. I don’t see any attempt (on her part) to contribute.”
Jennifer Keim, a Kamloops lawyer representing Friedl’s ex-wife opposed the doctor’s application, telling the court he has not provided enough proof to back up his claim.
In fact, Friedl has not provided the court even the most basic kinds of disclosure about his current financial situation. He hasn't paid support to his family for months, she said. B.C.’s Family Maintenance Enforcement Program is involved with the case.
Keim also said Friedl has not complied with many aspects of the original court order, made after a three-week B.C. Supreme Court trial in 2008.
He has not transferred cash or family assets as required, she said, adding he refuses to accept his ex-wife has any interest in the assets they built together.
“I understand he is not happy with the (2008) court decision and feels he has not been fairly treated, but recasting reality by trying to shift the onus and blame onto her should not be accepted,” said Keim.
Justice Richard Blair reserved his decision on Friedl’s application.
Friedl also pleaded guilty in Kamloops in December to two counts of impaired driving. He was fined $1,500 on each and ordered not to drive for two years.
The judge in that case was told Friedl’s marriage fell apart after he moved to Canada. It was an acrimonious divorce that brought the couple to court as they battled over the couple’s extensive international real estate holdings, as well as custody of their children.
Friedl owns land in Switzerland, the U.S., Germany and Canada. He also has business interests in Progressive Air Services, a Kamloops-based flight company.
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
Click here for reuse options!
thinkly says... 
0mad dog! mad dog! foaming at the mouth mad dog! RUN AWAY!
Posted on February 6, 2010 @ 9:43 am PST | Report post to Editor | 3219021