Doctor Falls Asleep During Surgery
What should have been a 90 minute operation turned into a seven hour ordeal for a patient who elected to have liposuction and scar correction surgery. The surgeon reportedly fell asleep during the procedure because he had been up late the last night writing his book. When the doctor took his first case at 8 a.m., the operating room nurse noticed that he look tired and was so concerned that she asked him to postpone the next operation. The doctor refused and briefly dozed off during that appointment. Again the operating nurse asked the surgeon to take a break and called the plastic surgery department twice but they only told her to keep an eye on him. Finally at 1:30 p.m. the doctor abruptly left during an operation when another surgeon was called in to assist the doctor with the operation because a resident doctor noticed that the doctor did not have his "A game."
Unfortunately for the patient the surgeon and hospital's negligence will force him to have another surgery to correct the mistakes made by the dozing doctor. Even though the doctor had a history of drug and alcohol abuse not once did someone step in and remove the surgeon from the operating room. Patient safety specialists believe this case reveals how the culture of operating rooms makes it difficult for nurses, technicians, residents, and fellows to challenge an operating doctor. Further negligence occurred when no doctor visit was given to the patient upon discharge and he was not notified for ten days on why the doctor left the operating room. The hospital fired the doctor, re-examined its policies and educated employees on recognizing and reporting impaired physicians. For his ordeal the patient settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
