Hearing-Impaired Surgeon Doesn't Hear Patient Screaming In Pain During Unsedated Colonoscopy: Complaint
A Florida gastroenterologist is facing disciplinary action after failing to wear his hearing aids, leaving a colonoscopy patient screaming in pain during a procedure.
Dr. Ishwari Prasad was recently placed on probation by the Florida Board of Medicine after two failed colonoscopy procedures on June 5, 2023, at the Tampa Ambulatory Surgery Center, a complaint sent to the Florida Department of Health and reviewed by USA Today read.
In one instance, the doctor, who is hearing impaired, did not wear his hearing aid, leaving him unable to hear his patient and staff. While the unidentified patient was still not fully sedated, Dr. Prasad started inserting the scope into the patient's rectum, leaving them screaming in pain.
"[Prasad] did not immediately stop the procedure when it became apparent that [the patient] was not fully sedated," the complaint said, adding he failed to hear the screams which led to him continuing with the procedure.
A September 2023 emergency restriction order (ERO) also noted that the patient was awake and engaging in conversation when the doctor entered the room and began the procedure, according to the Miami Herald.
An issue with the IV prevented the patient from being fully sedated.
"Dr. Prasad continued to insert the scope despite being told to wait and began to thrust the scope into [the patient's] rectum while [the patient] shouted in pain," the ERO read.
During an earlier colonoscopy procedure the same day, the doctor also "improperly delegated" a task to a staff that had no license to practice medicine.
Dr. Prasad has been placed on probation following the complaints. He was also fined $7,500 plus $6,301 in care costs. He is also required to take a five-hour course on continuing medical education in laws, rules, and ethics, said USA Today.
The doctor will be unable to perform any procedures on his own until he is further evaluated.
