Experienced • Established • Effective

Recorder runs during procedure, catches doctors insulting patient

On Behalf of | Jun 25, 2015 | Hospital Negligence |

In one of the more bizarre medical malpractice cases you are ever likely to hear about, a man was awarded $500,000 by a jury after he sued doctors and their practices. What was the offense committed by the doctors and their practices? Well, as the patient was sedated, the medical personnel on hand found it wise to crack jokes about the patient, mock him for his actions and possible medical conditions, and even threatened to not treat him fairly after the colonoscopy he was undergoing.

“But how did the patient become aware of these insults if he was sedated?,” you ask. That’s a great question, with a funny answer. The patient brought an audio recorder to his procedure just to capture the pre-op directions and explanation. But he left the recorder running by accident, and it captured the astonishing conversations the medical staff members had during the colonoscopy.

The case was recently finalized, and you can hear why the man deserved the compensation in our source article. There is audio of the comments on a player at the top of the linked article below.

While this is a very unorthodox medical malpractice lawsuit, it does make a very important point about medical care. It isn’t just the physical procedures and actions that matter when medical professionals are treating patients — the attitudes and behaviors that these professionals display are almost incredibly important. Failing to provide quality care to a patient — even if the infraction in question is verbal abuse — can constitute medical malpractice.

Source: MSN, “A surgical team mocks a sedated patient — and it’s all recorded,” Tom Jackman, June 23, 2015

Archives

Email our firm

Contact The Law Offices of Judy Snyder

4248 Galewood Street
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035

Lake Oswego Office

Local: 503-894-7478
Fax: (971) 277-3894
email