Doctors mocked an unconscious colonoscopy patient

FAIRFAX, Va. (CN) - Doctors mocked an unconscious colonoscopy patient, joking that he has syphilis and talking about firing a gun up his rectum, says a man whose cellphone allegedly captured audio of the entire affair.
Plaintiff D.B. sued Safe Sedation LLC and Safe Sedation Management in Fairfax County Court, alleging defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
"On April 18, 2013, during a colonoscopy, plaintiff was verbally brutalized and defamed by the very doctors to whom he entrusted his life while under anesthesia," the complaint states.
D.B. claims that Drs. Tiffany Ingham and Soloman Shah, who are not named as defendants, mocked him from the second the anesthesia kicked in.
D.B. claims he had inadvertently left his phone in the room, set to record, having neglected to turn it off after recording instructions for post-operative care.
"The moment that plaintiff became unconscious, Tiffany Ingham, M.D. commented to all of the others in the operating room 'Oh - Oscar Mike Goss.' That is a thinly disguised substitute for the expression 'OMG', which is an expression of both exasperation and mockery, and is a well-known abbreviation for 'Oh my God,'" the complaint states.
It adds: "Tiffany Ingham, M.D. started to mock, and then continued to mock, the amount of medicine required to anesthetize plaintiffs.
"Referring to plaintiff, Soloman Shah, M.D. commented that a teaching physician known to both him and Tiffany Ingham, M.D. 'would eat him for lunch.'
"Tiffany Ingham, M.D. agreed that plaintiff would be 'eaten alive' and also jokingly discussed a hypothetical of firing a gun up a rectum."
D.B. claims his phone caught Ingham talking to his unconscious self, saying, "And really, after five minutes of talking to you in pre-op I wanted to punch you in the face and man you up a little bit."
The tape allegedly caught the doctors discussing D.B.'s prescription medication and an irritation on his penis.
"A medical assistant at GMA touched plaintiff's penis during the colonoscopy," the complaint states. "Although plaintiff's penis is not involved in a colonoscopy, the medical assistant noted there was not 'much of a penile rash.' Tiffany Ingham, M.D. responded, 'No, you'll accidentally rub up against it. Some syphilis on your arm or something.' Solomon Shah, M.D. responded, 'That would be bad. That would be real bad.'"
The complaint adds: "Tiffany Ingham, M.D. then stated to all present in the operating suite that, 'It's probably tuberculosis in the penis, so you'll be all right.'"
D.B. says he doesn't have either disease.
The complaint states that the doctors talked about "misleading and avoiding" him after he woke up.
"A female medical assistant at GMA recalled that plaintiff had earlier warned that he passes out when looking at the placement of an IV, to which Tiffany Ingham, M.D. asked 'Well, why are you looking then, retard?' the man claims. "Tiffany Ingham, M.D. also described plaintiff as a 'big wimp.'"
He claims the doctors continued to discuss how to avoid him after he woke up, and mocked him for going to Mary Washington College, suggesting that "it was unsurprising that plaintiff attended a college that at one time was a 'women's college,' a 'girl's school,' and wondered if plaintiff was gay."
The complaint states: "Tiffany Ingham, M.D. stated, 'Are you implying that he's gay? Because I know gay men that have more manliness than' the plaintiff. 'And I'm sure I know gay men in the military who just haven't let it be known that they're gay who are manly.'"
In a final remark caught on tape, Ingham allegedly said she would make a note on the man's file that he had hemorrhoids even though he didn't.
D.B. claims that he and his wife discovered that the procedure had been recorded on their ride home, listening in disgust.
"Plaintiff has suffered distress, including embarrassment, loss of sleep, and mental anguish, as a direct and proximate result of the conduct of defendant's agent Tiffany Ingham, M.D.," he says.
He seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages for defamation, infliction of emotional distress and illegally disclosing his health records.
He is represented by Mikhael Charnoff with Perry Charnoff in Arlington.

Dallas Anesthesiologist Being Sued Over Deadly Surgery Admits to Texting, Reading iPad During Procedures

Mary Roseann Milne, 61, checked into Medical City Dallas on April 13, 2011 for an operation to correct an irregular heartbeat. The procedure, an AV node ablation, is routine, at least as far as heart surgeries go, but something went wrong. Ten hours after her surgery began, Milne was pronounced dead.

The family has filed a medical malpractice suit against Medical City and two individual doctors involved in the procedure: surgeon Dr. Robert Rinkenberger and anesthesiologist Dr. Christopher Spillers. It's set to go before a Dallas County jury in September.

One of the claims the jury will decide is whether Milne was a victim of "distracted doctoring" on the part of Spillers, a point that was pushed hard by the family's attorney, Maria Wormington, during depositions in the case. The depositions provide a clear window into the roles personal technology and social media can play in the operating room.

See also: Medical City is Dallas' Most Expensive Hospital

In her interrogation of surgeon Rinkenberger, he said that Spillers, the anesthesiologist, failed to notice Milne's dangerously low blood-oxygen levels until "15 or 20 minutes" after she turned blue. Until then, Rinkenberger said, Spillers had provided numbers showing that the patient's blood-oxygen levels were normal.

From the deposition:

Rinkenberger: I think the saturations as written are incorrect.
Wormnington: Do you think Dr. Spillers made them up?

R: Most likely.

W: Why would he do that?

R: Don't know.

W: Was he reading a book or talking on the phone or surfing the internet when he was managing Mrs. Milne's anesthesia?

R: Yes.

W: Tell me all of the things he was doing.

R: I don't know. I was busy working.

W: How do you know that he was engaged in other activity?

R: Well, he's working in front of me and I can see what he's doing, and he was.

W: All three of those things?

R: I can't answer that. That was -- he was -- he was doing something.

W: On a piece of equipment?

R: On -- on a piece -- either his phone or cell phone or pad or something.

W. All right. So the anesthesiologist was on his cell phone or on his iPad --

R: I believe so, yes.

W: -- playing games or surfing the internet?

R: I can't answer that.

W: But he wasn't watching Mrs. Milne?

R: No.

W: How many times did you look up and see him doing that?

R: You know, I was -- I was trying to finish up the case. I don't -- I can't tell you that.

W: Well, you remember at least one time? How many other --

R: Absolutely.


Rinkenberger goes on to testify that it's fairly routine for anesthesiologists to check their phones during procedures, though he would prefer that they didn't.

R: You know, we see this sort of thing with these procedures. I mean, they're long procedures. We see this kind of thing, and usually I -- it's not -- doesn't seem to be a problem especially with relatively short procedures. What can I say? I mean, it happens.
Wormington took Rinkenberger's deposition last April. When she interviewed Spillers on February 28 of this year, he confirmed much of the surgeon's testimony about his device usage, but he forcefully denied that it's common or poses a danger to patients.

Wormington: Do you routinely play games on your phone while managing anesthetic care?
Spillers: No.

W: Do you surf the Internet?

S: No.

W: Ever?

S: Well, depending on your definition of surf. I do not spend an extended period of time accessing the Internet. I have logged on to the Internet before especially if -- specifically if I have a question about the patient's medications, about the procedure, yes, we'll often, you know, do a search and find out information pertaining to the case. I will occasionally check e-mail. I will occasionally check scheduling for the office. But in general, no, I -- the time spent on the Internet during a case is, you know, very brief, a couple, three minutes.

W: Do you post on Facebook while you're managing anesthetic?

S: No.

W: Do you think that would be an unsafe thing to do?

S: To post on Facebook, would it be unsafe? It wouldn't be recommended.

W: Why not?

S: Well, because you're supposed to be monitoring the patient. You wouldn't want to be spending time in extraneous activities that were not related to patient care. Is it possible to do so safely? Yes, because we have ways of monitoring the patient. But I don't do that.

W: You never do that?

S: Post on Facebook during a case?

W: (Nods head up and down.)

S: No.

W: Because you feel it would be unsafe?

S: Yes, it -- well, it's -- I don't do it. I'm -- it's -- I'm doing my job. I'm not there to post on Facebook. I could do it safely, but I don't.

W: Do you read the paper or read books or do anything else other than monitor the patient?

S: I'm always monitoring the patient. There have been times when I have read materials in the OR. Occasionally I've read a book during a long case but not very often. But even when I'm doing so, I'm always listening to the pulse ox, always checking the blood pressure, always -- you know, at least every five minutes. I'm looking at the monitor at least every 30 seconds, looking at the patient at least every 15 minutes. But, no, it's not a common occurrence.


He reads the books -- some fiction, some nonfiction -- on his iPad. Occasionally, Spillers says, he'll fire off a quick text. During the Milne case, he might have exchanged a few texts and possibly checked his email, but there was no Internet surfing, no literature, and definitely no Facebook posts, which would be inappropriate.

None of this proves that Spillers was negligent, either in Milne's case or in other procedures. Anesthesiologists have a ton of down time. It does, however, set up an incredible gotcha moment toward the end of his testimony, when Wormington introduces posts from Spillers' personal Facebook page:

Wormington: Can you read the highlighted portion?
Spillers: Oh, wow. Yes. Okay.

W: Can you read it?

S: "After enduring the shittiest Friday I've had in a while, I just found out my next patient has lice. Freakin lice. I didn't even know they still made those. Help."

W: So I think you told me earlier it would be inappropriate to post something on Facebook about your patients.

S: Yes, I did. I was -- the point of it was the lice, but yes.

W: As at the corporate representative for Tx-An (the company Spillers works for), do you approve or disapprove of your decision to make that posting?

S: I disapprove. I would discourage it.

W: Are you going to implement some policies to help yourself not make these postings in the future?

S: Yes. I will never do it again.


The next exhibit is another Facebook post:

W: Can you read the highlighted portion?
S: Okay. "Just sitting here -- sitting here watching the tube on Christmas morning. Ho, ho, ho."

W: And what is the photograph of?

S: An anesthesia monitor.

W: Is that anesthesia monitor hooked up to a patient?

S: Yes.

W: Are -- is the data on the anesthesia monitor that of a patient?

S: Is the data -- like the vital signs? The vital signs are, but there's no identification of the patient.

W: And I think you told me earlier in your deposition that it would be inappropriate to post
anything about a patient on your Facebook.

S: Well, specifically, but these are just numbers and there's no way to really identify it with a particular patient.

W: So do you think it is appropriate to post the anesthesia monitor with patient data on it on your Facebook?

S: Well, there's no specific patient data. It's
just numbers.

W: So I'm -- so you don't have a problem with it; you think it's okay?

S: No. It's okay.

W: Now, I think you told me earlier that you never post on Facebook while you're doing anesthesia -- while you're managing anesthesia.

S: Not to my recollection.

W: Well, clearly you do post on Facebook sometimes when you're managing anesthesia because you were managing anesthesia at that moment.

S: Well, not necessarily because I took the picture but that doesn't mean I posted it at that time, because you can take a picture and then go to your pictures and then upload it onto Facebook after --

W: Okay. So --

S: -- wards.

W: -- where it says "just sitting here watching the tube on Christmas morning," you are clearly referring to the fact that you have to be doing an anes -- managing an anesthetic procedure on Christmas morning and you're watching the anesthetic monitor, fair?

S: Uh-huh.

W: So obviously --

S: Yes.

skyflyz wrote:Scary stuff. I'm supposed to get a colonoscopy but have been putting it off. I didn't realize they put you completely under for that.

People experiencing amnesia as a side effect of midazolam are generally unaware their memory is impaired, unless they had previously known it as a side effect.

RememberRonni wrote:Doctors like that should be struck off immediately because there is absolutely no excuse for behaving so unprofessionally.

Burlington, Vermont - May 18, 2009

Dr. Marc Philippon has a rather famous clientele. His most recent patient-- Yankee slugger Alex Rodriquez. But it's his long connection to Burlington orthopedic surgeon Dr. Joseph Abate that brought him to a Burlington courtroom Monday. They've trained together, dined together and golfed together.

"Actually I'm not here to help Dr. Abate. I'm here to give as true as possible an opinion about this medical act. I'm not here to help anybody. I'm here for the justice," Philippon said.

Abate is charged with seven counts of sexual assault for improperly inserting his fingers into the vaginas of young female patients-- those seeing him for knee or hip ailments. The state charges those exams were not medically justified, and were done without notice to the patients, without gloves and without anyone else present at the time. Philippon did not agree with the surrounding circumstances, but testified that he too would do an intravaginal exam if necessary.

"A patient and a doctor have a relationship to make the patient better and I think it's important as a doctor to do everything you can to help your patient and if that's what I need to do to help my patient, I will do it," Philippon said.

But on cross-examination, Philippon testified he has in fact never done a vaginal exam, despite years of practice as a hip specialist and thousands of patients.

Vt. State Attorney Cindy Maguire asked, "Have you ever in your career as an orthopedic surgeon placed your fingers inside the vagina of a patient in a non-trauma setting?"

"In a non-trauma setting, no," Philippon answered.

Philippon acknowledged that he first learned of the case when telephoned by Dr. Abate. He learned that he was accused of putting his fingers in a patient's vagina during a phone call from his attorney a few days later.

Maguire: And am I correct in that your very first reaction to that news was you didn't believe that he did that.

Philippon: Yes.

The defense also called another orthopedic specialist from Stanford University Monday who also said the exams were medically legitimate, but like Dr. Philippon, he too has never performed one.

One final patient took the witness stand on behalf of Abate, before the defense rested its case. We had been told during the day that he himself might testify, but that did not happen.

The judge will give instructions to the jury Tuesday morning and the attorneys will present their closing arguments.

A junior doctor who secretly photographed and sexually assaulted female patients will be struck off. He used a hidden camera to take over 100 images in examinations at x Hospital. He was jailed for 18 months in October for voyeurism and sexual assault. The term was later increased to 30 months. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) ruled the doctor should be banned from practicing as a doctor.

Jules Masserman, 89, Leader Of Psychiatric Group, Is Dead
By ERIC PACE
Published: November 15, 1994
Dr. Jules H. Masserman, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was a former president of the American Psychiatric Association and a former member of the Northwestern University medical school faculty, died on Nov. 6 at his home in Chicago. He was 89.

He had been suffering from lung ailments in recent months, said his wife, Christine.

Dr. Masserman was the association's 107th president, in 1978 and 1979. In past decades he was also president of the American Society for Group Therapy, the American Association for Social Psychiatry, the American Society for Biological Psychiatry and the American Academy of Psychoanalysis.
The monthly Current Biography wrote in 1980: "A unifying force in a field fraught with divergent schools and tendencies, Dr. Jules H. Masserman has combined erudition with a strong scientific commitment in formulating his major contributions to psychiatric theory, research and clinical practice."

He was the author of a score of books and more than 400 articles. He also edited numerous books and journals and had a hand in the making of more than a dozen films.

In 1987, Dr. Masserman retired from clinical practice after settlements were reached in lawsuits by women who were former patients asserting that he had drugged and sexually abused them. He denied the accusations, and no criminal charges resulted. By early 1992, four malpractice claims against Dr. Masserman had been settled out of court.

One of the women who sued, Barbara Noel, a singer and composer, wrote a 1992 book, "You Must Be Dreaming," with Kathryn Watterson, in which she detailed her charges against him. Her story was the subject of a made-for-television film.

Ms. Noel wrote that she became in thrall to Dr. Masserman and awoke on the couch in his examination room during a session in 1984 involving the intravenous use of sodium amytal, to discover him raping her.

Dr. Masserman went on to write a book in collaboration with his wife that was published by Regent earlier this year under the title "Sexual Allegations and Social Turmoil: What Can Be Done." The Massermans said that medical and police investigations had proved the allegations by Ms. Noel to be false.

Ms. Noel filed a complaint with the Illinois Psychiatric Society, which found cause for sanctions, and voted to suspend Dr. Masserman's membership in the society for five years. Dr. Masserman appealed unsuccessfully to the parent group, the American Psychiatric Association. A spokesman for the national group declined to discuss the specific grounds for the suspension.

Jules Masserman was born in Poland and emigrated to Detroit with his family when he was small. He grew up there and received his medical degree from Wayne University.

In addition to his wife of 52 years, the former Christine McGuire, he is survived by a brother, Theodore of Detroit.



He taught psychiatry and neurology at Northwestern University's medical school from the 1940's to the 1970's, serving for some years as co-chairman of the psychiatry department. He received a succession of honors in his field.

Priscilla13 wrote:I hope all of the people involved in these cases get their precious medical licenses taken away and that anyone who participated in any level of what I consider sexual assault gets jail time.