Surgical procedures can be extremely complicated, which is why we should be able to expect that the people performing the operations are competent and well-trained. If they are not, a patient’s life could be put in serious danger. Doctors who are negligent or reckless can and should be held accountable for any damage they cause as a result of their unsafe behaviors. Not only can legal action result in compensation for New Jersey victims, but it can also make it less likely for that doctor to hurt other patients.
These are the reasons that one man recently filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a medical center and hospital system that employed a negligent doctor. According to the claim, the neurosurgeon cited in the case allegedly performed dangerous and unnecessary operations on the victim and had a history of serious drug addiction.
The lawsuit argues that the doctor had struggled with a cocaine addiction since at least 2008. He would reportedly spend several days in a row under the influence of the drug and then “crash” for a couple days. This dramatically affected his abilities to perform safe and effective operations.
The doctor had, on several occasions, ordered the wrong surgical supplies, performed on the wrong body part and pressured patients into undergoing unnecessary procedures. As a result of his negligence, multiple patients suffered catastrophic injuries including paralysis, brain swelling and significant blood loss, which repeatedly led to death.
There have been multiple malpractice claims filed as a result of this doctor’s actions; but in the most recent case, the victim named the hospital and hospital system that employed him. According to the allegations, these parties were aware of his poor track record but still hired him. And even after administrators learned of a serious surgical error that resulted in the permanent paralysis of a patient, they only suspended him for a month. When he returned to surgery, his first patient died. Rather than report the doctor, administrators agreed to write the doctor a letter of recommendation so he could practice in a different hospital.
This is a tragic example of what can happen when a dangerous doctor is allowed to continue practicing, despite a history of negligence. Hopefully the lawsuits that have since been filed will draw enough attention to this horrific situation so that the doctor, and those that hired him, will face appropriate consequences.
Source: Dallas Business Journal, “Lawsuit claims Baylor let cocaine-using surgeon botch operations,” Bill Hethcock, Feb. 3, 2014
