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There’s an old proverb that goes “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” There should be an addendum to that, saying “even if the person you don’t want to say nice things to is heavily sedated.” An anesthesiologist and the staff at a medical practice in Reston, Va. learned that the hard way after a patient left his cell phone recording during his colonoscopy. His cell phone captured the doctors, members of the surgical team, and the anesthesiologist talking shit about him while he was unconscious.
The Post reports that the man, who is remaining anonymous, filed a defamation and medical malpractice lawsuit against the two doctors and their practices after listening to what his cell phone had recorded.
After five minutes of talking to you in pre-op,” the anesthesiologist told the sedated patient, “I wanted to punch you in the face and man you up a little bit,” she was recorded saying.
When a medical assistant noted the man had a rash, the anesthesiologist warned her not to touch it, saying she might get “some syphilis on your arm or something,” then added, “It’s probably tuberculosis in the penis, so you’ll be all right.”
The anesthesiologist also called him a “big wimp.” Ouch.
But now the anesthesiologist, medical assistant, and others who were involved in the man’s colonoscopy are paying the price. A jury for the lawsuit awarded the man $100,000 for defamation, $200,000 for medical malpractice, and $200,000 in punitive damages. Who has the last laugh now?