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Author Topic: Doctor sued for decorating unconscious patient's face  (Read 6672 times)

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Toumeng

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Doctor sued for decorating unconscious patient's face
« on: September 06, 2013, 10:26:00 PM »


TORRANCE, Calif. -- A Southern California anesthesiologi st's decision to decorate an unconscious patient's face with stickers and a
photo taken by a nurse's aide have prompted a state investigation and a lawsuit against the hospital and doctor for alleged breach of medical privacy.

During surgery at Torrance Memorial Medical Center in 2011, Dr. Patrick Yang used stickers to give his patient a black mustache and teardrops under her left eye, and then the nurse's aide took a picture, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The patient, Veronica Valdez, 36, worked at the hospital for 13 years before the surgery on her finger.

The hospital called the incident a breach of professionalis m and said in a statement that it demonstrated poor judgment.

Yang said he cut out and colored the stickers, and then placed them on Valdez's face near the end of the hour-long procedure. In his deposition, Yang said, "I thought she would think this is funny and she would appreciate it."

Nursing attendant Patricia Gomez took Valdez's photo. Gomez testified in her deposition that she didn't email or post the photo anywhere, and deleted it after showing it to Valdez.

"I felt violated. I was in shock," Valdez said in court documents.

Others testified in depositions about seeing a surgery photo of Valdez posted on Facebook. In court filings, lawyers for the hospital said there was no evidence the photo was published online.

Hospital officials reported the incident to state regulators as a potential violation of medical privacy. A spokesman for the California Department of Public Health said the agency can't comment on an ongoing investigation.

Yang and other employees involved in the incident were disciplined but not fired.

Valdez's civil suit is scheduled for trial in January. She's seeking damages from the hospital, the anesthesiologi st and his medical group for violation of privacy, infliction of emotional distress and other allegations.

Her attorney, Andrew T. Ryan in Los Angeles, said Valdez had to leave her job ordering and maintaining supplies for the hospital's operating rooms because she was "ridiculed and humiliated while under anesthesia."

In response, Torrance Memorial said the allegations in Valdez's lawsuit were "factually inaccurate, grossly exaggerated or fabricated." Its motion to dismiss the case is pending.

In court filings, the hospital contends that Valdez is trying to "play litigation lottery" against a "deep-pocket defendant."

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/content/topstories/story/Doctor-sued-for-decorating-unconscious-patients/qt7dn53Ux0mulyIAuJGUbA.cspx



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ntxheevsua

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Re: Doctor sued for decorating unconscious patient's face
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2013, 11:51:53 PM »
Please don't ever do this to me. Creepy



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YoursTruly

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Re: Doctor sued for decorating unconscious patient's face
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2013, 11:55:33 PM »
  This hmong dogtor needs to be fired immediately. :knuppel2:  He could very well have raped someone in the past too. >:(



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Json

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Re: Doctor sued for decorating unconscious patient's face
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2013, 04:28:48 AM »
Doesn't matter, Valdez is going to get paid.  They already confessed.  Most likey, hush hush money with a lot of zero's. 



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Sydney

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Re: Doctor sued for decorating unconscious patient's face
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2013, 10:20:16 AM »
It seems like a twisted situation between two colleagues/professionals when one became the doctor and the other a patient at the same work environment.  Its a very dangerous ground to thread upon, indeed.

In this case, it just sucks for Dr. Yang because his practical jokes allows Valdez to collect a jackpot.

I don't believe in firing Dr. Yang because we all make mistakes, as long as we learned from it and don't let it repeats itself. 

I believe that with Dr. Yang's deep pocket, if he learns from this experience, he will rise higher and takes his professionalis m to a better level.

As far as Valdez and her jackpot, she's probably going to turn green for a while, but it won't last her long. 

People should maintain their professionalis m in the work place and not get too comfortable with each others.  Its just too complicated and dangerous.



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