surgeon left in midst of operation

link

A prominent plastic surgeon has been reprimanded and indefinitely suspended by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center after he left a patient in the middle of an operation to perform surgery down the street at another hospital. Dr. Joseph Upton, who specializes in complex hand surgeries, has voluntarily agreed to stop practicing medicine until at least May 4 while state regulators investigate whether he has double-booked operations on other occasions.

Beth Israel officials said Upton left an adult male patient during a scheduled break in a lengthy operation on March 17 and returned before the procedure was scheduled to resume. However, they said he failed to properly notify the operating room team that he was leaving and didn't arrange for another attending surgeon to take his place in case there were complications during the break.

''Though no harm to the patient occurred and the surgery was completed on schedule, the medical center leadership took this breach of policy very seriously and immediately launched its own internal investigation," said a statement issued by Dr. Michael Epstein, chief operating officer of Beth Israel Deaconess. He said Upton has not been allowed to admit new patients or visit existing ones since April 8.

Upton's operating room breach bears a surface similarity to the 2002 case of Dr. David Arndt, whose license was suspended after he left a patient on the operating table to go to the bank to cash a check.

wow...

"after he left a patient in the middle of an operation to perform surgery down the street at another hospital."

this is crazy!!!

what do you think???

ENJOY!!!

IMHO the Doctors license should be revoked. If a Doctor is going to be that irresponsible and doesn't realize that it's wrong to leave without putting someone else in charge he should not be practicing. End of story.

Jemison

that´s really crazy...insane guy. During my 12 months ofcivil service in an hospital i also noted that most doctors are ignorant. (with a few really nice ones on the other hand) But this is just insane...as a plastic surgeon i bet he is just money hungry.

I think that there are some really money-hungry doctors...as you can see by the one who left to cash a cheque. I think this is both hilarious and disturbing at the same time....imagine if your having open heart surgery...and the doctor leaves to read the newspaper for a bit or do the groceries....scary

NUTS! Absolutely nuts!

Take his licence away. Zero Tolerance for this, I didn't know you could have tolerance on this topic. If I had a power position over him, I'd have him canned ASAP.

One of the few cases where a lawsuit against the doc would be legit, IMO.

What a boob! I hope he's at least cheap!