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Plastic Surgeon Allegedly Watched Porn While Operating

Discussion in 'Plastic Surgery' started by Dr.Scorpiowoman, Apr 28, 2018.

  1. Dr.Scorpiowoman

    Dr.Scorpiowoman Golden Member

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    Bizarre Video Behavior One of Multiple Claims

    A former patient of a well-known Beverly Hills plastic surgeon has filed an amended complaint against him that alleges a series of curious behaviors, including his habit of watching pornographic videos while in the OR, according to a story posted on the Los Angeles news site KTLA5.[1]

    Tess Broussard, the former patient, said she had first tried suing plastic surgeon Randal Haworth in 2013 after he allegedly botched a lip filler procedure. (The filler wasn't FDA approved for that purpose, she now says.) A court dismissed that suit, however, when Broussard's expert witness failed to testify.

    In her amended complaint filed last month, Broussard not only cites those earlier allegations but adds a series of new ones. These are based in part on a 2017 deposition by a surgical consultant who had worked for Haworth for 15 years.


    In the deposition, the former employee said Haworth watched hardcore, sometimes violent videos while performing surgery; altered and even forged patients' records; performed surgeries for which he wasn't qualified; and continued to practice following a treatment for eye cancer that could have affected his ability to operate properly. Moreover, Haworth has been accused of "unlawfully using Percocet and writing prescriptions for others to obtain Percocet on his behalf," according to the attorney of record for this earlier suit, Christopher Rudd, who is also representing Broussard in her current suit.

    Rudd said that Broussard's amended complaint would include new allegations of emotional distress and fraud. "She never would have hired the guy in the first place if she would've known these things." Nor, he added, would Broussard have been forced to drop her original suit had the allegations laid out in the 2017 deposition been known earlier.

    In an emailed statement to Newsweek, another media outlet covering the unusual story, Haworth's attorney, Matthew Oster, pushed back.

    "The recent allegations made against Dr. Randal Haworth are outrageous and have no merit," Oster said. "They are based on reckless and uncorroborated claims made about him at a deposition by a disgruntled former employee who was terminated for fraud . . . and participation in an unlawful prescription drug scheme. We will vigorously defend against these false allegations and are examining all legal options against the individuals making these false claims."[2]

    At press time, no further word about the amended complaint or related matters was available.

    Decades-Old Cap Scorned as 'Minimum Wage'
    A New Mexico district court has declared the state's $600,000 medical malpractice cap unconstitutional, reports a story in the Albuquerque Journal, the state's largest newspaper.[3]

    Judge Victor Lopez of the Second Judicial District Court ruled that New Mexico lawmakers had exceeded their constitutional authority when they voted in the 1990s to enact the cap, a legislative maneuver that amended the 1976 New Mexico Medical Malpractice Act. The cap covers noneconomic damages, including awards for pain and suffering.

    The Lopez ruling stems from a case involving plaintiff Susan Siebert, who claims that she had to be hospitalized for more than 9 months as the result of injuries sustained during a 2011 gynecologic procedure performed by ob/gyn Rebecca Okun at Women's Specialists of New Mexico, in Albuquerque.


    "A $600,000 cap isn't even the equivalent of paying someone minimum wage, if you're talking about a plaintiff who dies as a result of medical malpractice in their 20s or 30s," said Siebert's attorney, Lisa Curtis.

    But Albuquerque oncologist and American Medical Association President-Elect Barbara McAneny worries that rescinding the cap could have far-reaching implications.

    "We have a very difficult time in New Mexico attracting physicians to our state," she said. "One of the things I have used when I try to recruit is that we have a very good and very rational medical malpractice law. If that changes, it will make it even more difficult to bring good physicians here." (In the recent WalletHub survey, New Mexico ranked 24th in the Opportunity & Competition category and 40th in the Medical Environment category; it ranked 29th overall.[4])

    In 2011, lawmakers handed Republican Governor Susana Martinez a bill that would have raised the cap to $1 million, but she vetoed it, arguing that it would have increased healthcare costs and encouraged frivolous lawsuits.

    Plaintiff's attorney Curtis says she looks forward to an appeal of the Lopez ruling, in order to have higher courts weigh in on the constitutionality of New Mexico's award cap.

    Severely Injured Woman Receives Mega Award
    In a record-setting verdict for Chatham County, Georgia, a jury last month awarded $18 million to a woman whose undiagnosed and untreated spine infection led her to become paraplegic, according to a report on WTOC.com.[5]

    Defendants in the suit were SouthCoast Health in Savannah and an infectious disease doctor who, along with the plaintiff, wasn't named in the WTOC story.


    "I think the jury recognized that she [the plaintiff] was tragically, catastrophically injured and she's going to be a paraplegic the rest of her life; and as a result, the verdict reflected that," said Jeff Harris, the attorney representing the injured woman.


    The physician involved in the suit is reportedly now working in Orlando, Florida.

    References
    1. Wynter K, Wenzke M, Cheng K, et al. Beverly Hills plastic surgeon accused of watching porn while performing surgery, other unethical behavior. KTLA5. March 14, 2018. Article Accessed April 1, 2018.

    2. Rojas N. Beverly Hills plastic surgeon accused by former patients of watching porn during surgery. Newsweek. March 16, 2018. Article Accessed April 1, 2018.

    3. Baca MC. District Court strikes down malpractice cap. Albuquerque Journal. March 28, 2018. Article Accessed April 1, 2018.

    4. Kiernan J. 2018's best & worst states for doctors. WalletHub. March 27, 2018. Article Accessed April 1, 2018.

    5. Rawlins E. Chatham County jury sets $18 million verdict record. WTOC. March 7, 2018. ArticleAccessed April 1, 2018.

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