Medical Malpractice Complaints Cite Unprofessional Behavior

An article in the Annals of Internal Medicine cites numerous instances of unprofessional behavior in medical malpractice complaints. The article includes stories from medical students, residents and interns describing abusive, violent and sexual behavior among higher-level medical professionals. The spectrum of medical malpractice complaints run from an anesthesiologist who was accused of sexually assaulting female patients, to a proctologist and his team verbally abusing a patient while he was under anesthesia.

Medical Malpractice Complaints: Sexual Abuse

A medical malpractice complaint in Oregon involved an anesthesiologist who reportedly sexually assaulted more than a dozen female patients. According to an attorney for the patients, the women had informed the hospital about the assaults, but hospital authorities ignored the findings of their own investigations. Doctors and nurses who worked with the man allegedly knew about his behavior prior to the medical malpractice complaint. The women filed a lawsuit against the anesthesiologist and the hospital, receiving more than $1 million in the jury verdict.

Medical Malpractice Complaints: Verbal Abuse

A Virginia man filed a medical malpractice complaint against his proctologist and his team after he recorded them verbally abusing him while he was unconscious. The man went into the doctor’s office for a routine colonoscopy and recorded the doctor’s instructions on his mobile phone. The phone continued recording while he was under anesthesia. The phone recorded remarks from the anesthesiologist about the patient having “Ebola of the penis” and telling him “I wanted to punch you in the face.” The patient later used the recording as part of his medical malpractice complaint lawsuit against the doctor, for which we won over $400,000.

Medical Malpractice Complaint: Inappropriate Behavior with Children

The article also included the medical malpractice complaint about an intern who performed a pelvic exam on a young girl. The girl came into the emergency room complaining of abdominal pain. A medical student attending the exam described the intern’s behavior as “creepy” and alleged that he performed the exam “in a bizarre, sexualized manner.” The student’s medical malpractice complaint claimed that the intern inserted and retracted the speculum “an unconscionable number of times” and that he “was clearly relishing the process.”

Medical Malpractice Complaint: Unprofessional Behavior Revealed

Although the callous behavior of some medical professionals has been a long-held secret in the industry, new technologies have revealed more instances of such uncaring attitudes. The AIM report also showed that patients file more medical malpractice complaints for unprofessional behavior than for actual medical negligence. Since doctors and hospitals seldom respond to such medical malpractice complaints, patients have filed lawsuits to extract “punitive damages” from these once-respected professionals for their actions.

Source: Portland Legal Examiner

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