An 84-year-old Florida doctor will have to prove he is still fit to practice medicine after ignoring the cries of pain from a freezing patient because he was not wearing his hearing aids.
“(He) did not immediately stop the procedure when it became apparent that (the patient) was not fully sedated. (The patient) began screaming that he was in pain and could still feel everything. Dr. Prasad continued to move the endoscope,” according to an emergency restraining order imposed last September, reported by the Miami Herald.
Last week, gastroenterologist Ishwari Prasad was reportedly placed on probation by the Florida Board of Medicine following two incidents last year, according to USA Today.
The octogenarian, who has been licensed since 1990, will have to prove he can still practice medicine after committing significant errors during two separate colonoscopies on June 5, 2023, at the Tampa Ambulatory Surgery Center.
During the first operation, he allegedly “unduly delegated” medical tasks to a surgical technician who did not have a license to practice medicine, the American media noted.
The investigation reportedly revealed that the technician also regularly assisted the doctor in certain tasks well beyond her training because “Dr Prasad is incapable of performing them himself,” she reportedly testified.
The same day, the doctor allegedly began a second procedure while the patient was not yet properly sedated due to a problem with his intravenous line.
Except that instead of stopping everything when he heard the cries of pain, the doctor continued working as if nothing had happened, until a hospital administrator came to stop him.
According to the complaint, the octogenarian was not wearing his hearing aids at the time of the incident, so he did not hear his patient’s distress on the operating table.
In addition to being placed on probation while awaiting re-evaluation by another doctor for ten operations, the doctor was reportedly fined $7,500 US and will have to pay an additional $6,301 US for costs related to his case.
