-
- A Des Moines anesthesiologist says another doctor intentionally
pointed a hose and sprayed him with a bloody liquid during surgery at Mercy
Medical Center.
-
- Dr. Eric Meek walked into an operating room Feb. 16 to
oversee a hip-replacement patient's anesthesiology. Dr. Scott Neff looked
up from the surgery he was performing and squirted a "blood-laden
liquid" on his face, eyes and neck, according to a lawsuit Meek filed
Friday in Polk County District Court.
-
- As Meek ducked on the floor, Neff continued to spray
the hose, which was attached to a machine draining fluid from the patient's
hip, the lawsuit said. Neff told Meek "to leave the surgical suite
and to never come back," the lawsuit said. Meek calls the attack unprovoked.
-
- Mercy representatives said Meek immediately notified
hospital administration of the attack. Marie Ruettgers, public relations
director, said the hospital held administrative and peer reviews of the
situation.
-
- "Appropriate action has been taken," said Ruettgers,
declining to comment further and calling the incident private. "We've
never had an incident like it."
-
- After the attack, hospital staff tested Meek's blood
for HIV and hepatitis and started him on anti-HIV drugs. Ruettgers declined
to say whether the hip-replacement patient was informed of the incident.
-
- Neff, who works as a private orthopedic surgeon, was
out of town and unavailable for comment. Meek referred comment to his Omaha
attorney, who did not return calls for comment.
-
- Ruettgers declined to say whether Neff was penalized
for his alleged actions. Andrea Meek said her husband had never before
clashed with Neff.
-
- The lawsuit calls Neff's actions outrageous, and asks
a jury to compensate Meek for severe mental and emotional distress, humiliation
and medical expenses.
-
- Coating Meek with the bloody spray "was intentional
and done with the sole purpose of humiliating and injuring" Meek,
the lawsuit says.
-
-
- Copyright © 2000 The Des Moines Register
-
-
- MainPage
http://www.rense.com
-
-
-
- This
Site Served by TheHostPros
|