OT: During a colonoscopy, doctors trash sedated patient

I don't want to start an argument, and I definitely don't want to defend these particular people but, I do want to say that I work somewhat close to the medical field and my ex-wife was a nurse and to get through the day, including surgeries, there can often be a lot of joking going on to relieve the tension and stress that comes with the job - sort of like the doctors in the MASH television show constantly joking around. Some people would be appalled at what is said during these events and some wouldn't care at all and would understand. Again, I'm not defending these particular jerks but the practitioners do need to be given a certain amount of latitude.

I remember once being groggy and heading to surgery. Several nurses and aides, etc. were wheeling me down to the O.R. area and they were joking around that the chart said I was female and further joked that maybe they should pick up my gown to make sure. I was with it enough to know they were just joking and I thought it was funny (being a guy surrounded by several nurses).

Gary, are you referring to black humor?

I can imagine that there is some banter, but really, if you had an out of body experience and was looking down and watching and hearing people make fun of your genitalia, I wonder how you might feel.....I have no problem imagining that scenario, and I know I would not be happy, it freaks me out somehow.

pb4: I never once said that it was acceptable to make personal jokes about a patient, belittling them. I have repeatedly said in this thread that these people were jerks and got what they deserved. Actually they deserve even more than they got.


Making fun would be crossing the line but there can sometimes be a lot of joking about many various things, usually nothing personal regarding the patient, as what happened in this thread. People have a right to be upset over these shenanigans but I think it also important for people to realize that joking does go on and that it is important stress relief for the professionals in order for them to do their high pressure jobs. In this case it was totally unprofessional to make fun of and belittle the patient.

You can twist my words around all you want but I never once made an excuse for these particular people. I do however, think that patients everywhere, including us, should know that in other situations there is acceptable levity involved and it is a normal part of the job in order for these people to function. The problem is you just care about this thread and this thread only while I am addressing the bigger picture and not directing my comments to these particular unprofessional idiots in this thread. My posts are kind of off topic in an off topic thread. I'm sorry if you can't deal with my straddling outside the lines of this particular thread.

Whether I agree or not, I can understand where Gary is coming from and I am sure many others can justifiably feel the same way. That is why lawyers get their Big Bucks. They need to make sure that people who might sympathize with doctors don't get selected from the jury pool.

Post Edited (IamCurious) : 6/24/2015 3:55:20 PM (GMT-6)

The patient lying is an issue to me. And he did lie: there was no way he couldn't have known he would be recording the whole colonoscopy. It's the equivalent of eavesdropping: do it by all means, but only if you can take hearing things you perhaps would rather not hear.

I am hard to sedate. At my first colonoscopy, I kept telling them "I'm awake, I feel this" and though they did give me more medicine, I was alert and in pain (cramping) the whole time. I felt everything they did and heard every word they said. Nothing like this happened duting the time I was supposed to be out.

When I told the doc prior to my next scope about it, especially the part about hearing every word, they made dang sure I was OUT. Yay!

It's ridiculous to think that all doctors are guilty of something just because they crack a non personal joke during a procedure. For the millionth time, I'm not even talking about this particular case. Doctors are not public enemy number one. It's not any different than defending police in general, just because a few went way overboard with excessive violence. Oh crap. Now I've started another argument.

Who cares if Gary's right or at least making the same point as some phD medical ethicist about his comment DB, the point is Gary making excuses for the particular behavior in this incident is ridiculous and takes away from the whole point of what this patient went through...defending the Dr.'s in any way in this case wasn't warranted considering how disgusting they behaved.

It's astonishes me that considering we all do routine C-scopes that anyone here wouldn't simply just take this whole incident for what it is, disgusting plain and simple, and that anyone here would make excuses as to why those docs said such sick things is what pisses me off, trying to take away from the bigger picture and focus on how it's just the way these idiot Dr.s deal with their job, by what, being ******s in regards to their patients, mocking them, making statements about how the patient is just looking or wanting to be sick and that's why he's getting scoped...absolutely unbelievable anyone would take away or down play what this patient went through...it's no wonder I like animals more than people FFS! Same with regards to him lying about how he recorded the whole thing, who gives a crap if he lied about that or not, that's not the point either...did anyone hear what those losers said about this guy while he was put under???? I mean honestly, I see why there's very little humanity left in this world, people are focusing on the unimportant issues.

Sad world we live in, no doubt!

Some yrs back a good friend of mine needed to have carotid artery surgery, which is dangerous because it affects bloodflow to the brain. They do not sedate the patient completely so that they can monitor certain voluntary reactions during the procedure. My friend later told me that the surgeon was discussing Mel Brooks movies with OR staffers while working on her artery; outrageous! / Old Hat (34 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

Of course you do.

Come to the liberal side Gary; we have cookies

iPoop said...
It's certainly horrible, and I hope it was an odd incident, not a regular occurrence. But hey we're all carrying phones these days. What'd he leave the phone on the shelf under the bed or something? Cuz there's no pockets on those hospital gowns...

The phone was put in a pocket and his clothes were put on a shelf under the bed he had his colonoscopy on. That's usually where my clothes are put during a colonscopy as well - I've clearly been missing a trick these past 15 years and have missed out on my chance to make $500,000 (or the equivalent of in sterling).

pb4 said...
Same with regards to him lying about how he recorded the whole thing, who gives a crap if he lied about that or not, that's not the point either...

It is partly the point and I don't think should have been entirely ignored. At the least I think it should have significantly reduced the payout the patient got. Basically you can't go around recording anyone you feel like without asking their permission first - in other contexts, that would get you into trouble with the police and you could have your recording equipment, PC, etc. confiscated and the contents searched extremely thoroughly.

I do think the anaesthesiologist and GI were guilty of bullying and that a fitting punishment was losing their jobs. But I'm a cynic who thinks that most of the "caring" profession isn't actually caring at all, and that some of them should absolutely not be in a position of looking after ill or vulnerable people. Does make you think though: the anaesthesiologist I had at my last operation was lovely - she did everything she could to reassure me. I hope she didn't start slagging me off the moment I was out for the count >_>.