Smartphone Catches Smarta$$ Docs During Colonoscopy

July 1st, 2015. By LucyC

And the doctors thought the patient was a pain in the ass before the colonoscopy? That’s before they got hit with a lawsuit by the patient whose phone recorded some very unsavory (not to mention unprofessional) remarks the doctors made while DB ( the patient/plaintiff) was under sedation. You know, this could be the beginning of something big….I can see the secret listening App now…

Meanwhile, back on the table, the doctors allegedly mocked DB while he was unconscious joking that he has syphilis and talking about firing a gun up his rectum. Oh dear. DB’s smartphone caught the entire conversation and has just paid for itself into the next millennium.

DB sued Safe Sedation LLC and Safe Sedation Management (you gotta love the name)  alleging defamation and infliction of emotional distress. OH yeah baby. According to the court documents:  “On April 18, 2013, during a colonoscopy, plaintiff was verbally brutalized and defamed by the very doctors to whom he entrusted his life while under anesthesia.”

Specifically, DB claims that Drs. Tiffany Ingham and Soloman Shah, who were not named as defendants, mocked him from the second he was actually sedated. DB claims he had inadvertently left his phone in the room, set to record, having neglected to turn it off after recording instructions for post-operative care. (I wonder if there are  lawyers rewriting the law right now to stop this from becoming standard practice—the recording part I mean.)

“The moment that plaintiff became unconscious, Tiffany Ingham, M.D. commented to all of the others in the operating room ‘Oh—Oscar Mike Goss.’ That is a thinly disguised substitute for the expression ‘OMG’, which is an expression of both exasperation and mockery, and is a well-known abbreviation for ‘Oh my God,'” the complaint states. Wait—there’s more—”Tiffany Ingham, M.D. started to mock, and then continued to mock, the amount of medicine required to anesthetize plaintiffs.”

“Referring to plaintiff, Soloman Shah, M.D. commented that a teaching physician known to both him and Tiffany Ingham, M.D. ‘would eat him for lunch.’ Yes, seriously.  “Tiffany Ingham, M.D. agreed that plaintiff would be ‘eaten alive’ and also jokingly discussed a hypothetical of firing a gun up a rectum.”

DB claims his phone caught Ingham talking to him while unconscious, saying, “And really, after five minutes of talking to you in pre-op I wanted to punch you in the face and man you up a little bit.”

And…”A female medical assistant at GMA recalled that plaintiff had earlier warned that he passes out when looking at the placement of an IV, to which Tiffany Ingham, M.D. asked ‘Well, why are you looking then, retard?’ the man claims. “Tiffany Ingham, M.D. also described plaintiff as a ‘big wimp.'” I don’t think that’s a recommended pre-op approach.

Back to the table…apparently, the docs went on to discuss DB’s prescription medication and an irritation on his penis. “A medical assistant at GMA touched plaintiff’s penis during the colonoscopy,” the complaint states. “Although plaintiff’s penis is not involved in a colonoscopy, the medical assistant noted there was not ‘much of a penile rash.’ Tiffany Ingham, M.D. responded, ‘No, you’ll accidentally rub up against it. Some syphilis on your arm or something.’ Solomon Shah, M.D. responded, ‘That would be bad. That would be real bad.'”

Ok—do these people not golf? Isn’t that what physicians are supposed to discuss while at work?

The complaint goes on to claim: “Tiffany Ingham, M.D. then stated to all present in the operating suite that, ‘It’s probably tuberculosis in the penis, so you’ll be all right.'”

DB denies having either of those diseases, which you think a pre-op medical screen would have caught, had one been done… I digress.

This next big is particularly worrying. According to the complaint, the doctors talked about “misleading and avoiding” DB after he woke up.

According to the lawsuit, the doctors continued to discuss how to avoid DB after he woke up, and mocked him for going to Mary Washington College, suggesting that “it was unsurprising that plaintiff attended a college that at one time was a ‘women’s college,’ a ‘girl’s school,’ and wondered if plaintiff was gay.” Ok—really?

The complaint states: “Tiffany Ingham, M.D. stated, ‘Are you implying that he’s gay? Because I know gay men that have more manliness than’ the plaintiff. ‘And I’m sure I know gay men in the military who just haven’t let it be known that they’re gay who are manly.'”

In a final remark caught on tape, Ingham allegedly said she would make a note on the man’s file that he had hemorrhoids even though he didn’t. Oh, I would so be suing….

Poor old DB claims that he and his wife discovered the recorded conversation during their ride home, I sure hope he wasn’t driving at the time…

“Plaintiff has suffered distress, including embarrassment, loss of sleep, and mental anguish, as a direct and proximate result of the conduct of defendant’s agent Tiffany Ingham, M.D.,” according to the complaint. Ya think?

DB was looking for $1 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages for defamation, infliction of emotional distress and illegally disclosing his health records. And he got $500,000 including $200,000 in punitive damages awarded by the jury hearing the case. Ok—where’s that App?

This was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2015 at 3:58 pm and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.