Kay Van Wey is joined by several other members of the No More Doctor Deaths Club to pick apart a truly bizarre malpractice case involving Bingo. It sounds funny, and it’s hard not to make bingo jokes, but this case ended with the worst of all outcomes: the patient died.
The No More Dr. Deaths Club was formed to advocate fixes for problems that lead to patient deaths and injuries and to fight for accountability when death or injury does happen. Each of our guests today is a charter member. Robert Oshel is the former Associate Director for Research and Disputes for the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). Dr. Robert Henderson is a renowned spinal surgeon. Dr. Martin Lazar is a renowned neurosurgeon. Anne Roberts, Vice President of Medical Staff Services at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, is back again this week.
Here is a quick rundown of the case. A middle-aged man goes into an outpatient surgery center for what should be a simple cataract removal. During the surgery, a game of musical bingo takes place, in which players identify various songs to complete a Bingo run. The alarms on the surgical and anesthesiologist’s devices were turned off, presumably so the players could better hear each song. One of the players was the anesthesiologist himself. Nobody appeared to have noticed the patient was uncomfortable and becoming more distressed until he was in full cardiac and respiratory arrest. The patient died a short time later.
The same anesthesiologist was recently under investigation in the state of Oregon, where he had successfully applied for a new medical license. How could any of this happen, and what can we do to prevent similar incidents from happening again? Can professionals be trusted to regulate and self-police their own sectors?
This is exactly why the No More Dr. Deaths Club exists. Each guest adds their opinion on issues surrounding the case, the follow-up, and the fact that this doctor was able to be relicensed mere weeks after his game of Malpractice Bingo resulted in a patient’s death.
If you’ve ever assumed “outpatient” automatically means “safe,” this conversation will change how you think about oversight, reporting, and patient protection.
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