"Dancing Doc" Video....Just When You Think You've Seen It All...

[Sarah Matacale, BSN, RN]

To all of us health professionals (professionals being the key word here), this one will leave you speechless. I am sure by now many of you have seen the viral YouTube video of an Atlanta dermatologist dancing and twerking with her staff over an unconscious and exposed patient. In the video Dr. Windell Davis-Boutte and her staff lip sync and dance pointing to the patient's exposed buttocks to a song about "big bottoms". During another video....yes I said another, as there are over 20 videos posted on her YouTube practice page, she cuts into the patients' flesh on cue to the song lyrics about cutting. She posts these as "marketing videos" for her Atlanta area practice.

Dr. Boutte is board certified in dermatology but also performs plastic surgery and general surgery neither of which she is board certified in. Her practice web page boasts rave reviews from hundreds of her patients over her 22 years in practice. The web page states that she specializes in Brazilian Butt Lifts and Smart Liposuction. Her surgeries are performed at an outpatient "full-service medical spa and cosmetic surgery center" that is not licensed or accredited.

If you type Dr. Windell Boutte's name into the Google tab you will come up with a plethora of hits from her videos to the growing number of malpractice lawsuits cited against her for a variety of reasons. She has settled at least 5 malpractice lawsuits and has 4 more pending. At Dr. Boutte's surgery center, no general anesthesia is used. One of the settlements is with a patient, who was a nurse, that now suffers permanent brain damage and requires round the clock care. This patient arrested on the surgical table after 8 hours of surgery under a cocktail of sedative medications including Propofol. Within the lawsuits, she is cited for not following "board guidelines for office-based surgeries that define you to report any incident that leads to a patient's death or to a hospital".

So where do we even begin to have a conversation about this? One of my questions would be how do 20 plus of these videos exist and who are the patients? Do the patients have knowledge or give consent to being on camera and presented to the world as the subject of Dr. Boutte's "marketing"? If patients have not consented, then how has she been able to continue not only making these videos but practicing medicine as well? Should patients in the videos be made aware that they unknowingly were filmed and that the videos were used as a marketing tactic? The HIPAA rights clearly were violated unless the patient waived these rights. Would you want to know if it were you?

My next question is who are the staff that are participating in this behavior? Have none of the staff members found this unethical or just plain wrong? Has no one spoken up on the patient's behalf? Should they be subjected to punishment as well? Are there no other physicians that practice in the same group that are aware of these videos or malpractice lawsuits and voice objection? Should they turn her into to governing bodies?

How did we get here? A few months ago the "funky flu" video filmed by a nurse in Florida went viral. In it, the emergency room nurse gave several informational facts and instructions on how to keep the flu at bay. The nurse was turned in to the board of nursing and was under a great deal of scrutiny over her "sarcastic tone". Somehow, these videos from Dr. Boutte have taken a while to reach the public's "spotlight". Why is that I wonder?

My next thought is that surgeons frequently use music as a background distraction during surgery. Each surgeon has his/ her own preference of music style. At what point does the line get crossed when you trust your physician and team to care for you at your most vulnerable moments? How much "goofing and fun" is acceptable when you are the professionals? I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts on this matter and the issues surrounding it. Does anyone have any similar experiences? What repercussions should Dr. Boutte face if any?

[klone, MSN, RN]

Interesting article. I read about this physician over the weekend.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

At Dr. Boutte's surgery center, no general anesthesia is used. One of the settlements is with a patient, who was a nurse, that now suffers permanent brain damage and requires round the clock care.

This is not an issue over the fact that no general anesthesia is used. Many surgeries can be done using propofol. It's a perfectly safe option as long as SOP is followed.

This patient arrested on the surgical table after 8 hours of surgery under a cocktail of sedative medications including Propofol. Within the lawsuits, she is cited for not following "board guidelines for office-based surgeries that define you to report any incident that leads to a patient's death or to a hospital".

I work in a fully licensed/accredited "office-based" surgical OR (it's in a professional building attached to a large hospital) run by board certified plastic surgeons. We use propofol (as well as other medications) combined with local anesthesia to do anything from tummy tucks to 8 hour facelifts to breast augmentations, etc. Anesthesiologists (MDs) are monitoring the patients at every moment. Who in the heck was administering the anesthesia to these patients, and how could it escape notice that the patient was crumping?!?

In the video Dr. Windell Davis-Boutte and her staff lip sync and dance pointing to the patient's exposed buttocks to a song about "big bottoms". During another video....yes I said another, as there are over 20 videos posted on her youtube practice page, she cuts into the patients' flesh on cue to the song lyrics about cutting. She posts these as "marketing videos" for her Atlanta area practice.

This is just absolutely appalling and almost beyond belief.

What repercussions should Dr. Boutte face if any?

She should lose her medical license imo.

[broughden]

Because doctors are profit centers. They, the AMA, the hospitals, all of them have a vested interest in protecting the doctors which are quite literally printing money.

There is an OB/GYN from Florida who killed a woman on the operating table performing surgery she shouldnt have had, based on her wishes rather than sound medical advice. He is now in North Carolina practicing.

There is a cardiac surgeon in Fort Pierce who was placing stents in patients with little or no blockages for profit. The NYT did an article on him even. He is still there and still practicing.

The list is endless.

But they print money, so their lobbyists protect them and the hospitals and corporations they work for protect them.

Given how many nurses there are in the US the association should be the best funded and most influential medically associated lobbying group in the country, sadly its not and so nurses suffer.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

"Dr. Boutte is board certified in dermatology but also performs plastic surgery and general surgery neither of which she is board certified in."

As an outsider to the OR/outpatient surgery world, this is the issue I really struggle with. A dermatologist performing plastic surgery just doesn't sound okay.

[slauren]

I feel she should be investigated. Even though faces and names aren't shown in her videos, I still feel it is a dignity issue and the people filmed should know it was them. I don't understand why they would think making these videos, let alone posting them online would be a good idea?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Smh. This is just bizarre.

[Guest219794]

Possibly the weirdest thing is that these videos were what she used to attract people. People saw these videos, and thought "That is the surgeon for me."

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

"Dr. Boutte is board certified in dermatology but also performs plastic surgery and general surgery neither of which she is board certified in."

As an outsider to the OR/outpatient surgery world, this is the issue I really struggle with. A dermatologist performing plastic surgery just doesn't sound okay.

Apparently (sadly) in Georgia, any physician is allowed to perform these types of surgery. Very weird. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution did a two-part article on this: Woman left brain damaged after cosmetic surgery

[trytounderstand]

As a former patient and family member who have watched patient rights violated, this truly bothers me. There are people in the medical system who violate their oath, rather they take an actual oath or not, to care for other humans and treat them with respect.

When I state take an oath, I want to qualify that statement when someone becomes a doctor, nurse, teacher, care giver of any kind and receive a certificate stating that fact they have a moral obligation to always treat the patient, child, dog, cat with compassion, professionalism, and observe their basic rights. In the past few years, my trust in certain individuals and institutions that provide care, teaching etc has been shaken to the core. These types of videos is proof that there is no standard that are set in law to protect unwitting patients, customers, parents, family members who are trusting that behind closed doors they are going to be treated with the basic respect that all humans and creatures deserve. Being aware that a doctor or teacher can go to another state and continue practicing after they have destroyed someone's life in one way or another is unbelievable that is allowed to happen.

In the medical setting, too many times patients could be victimized and that is exactly what has happened especially in this case. Although these patients may have signed given permission for pictures to be taken, surely, they did not expect to be put on display in this disrespectful manner. Of course, some surgeons and care givers may like to listen to music, may even hum when performing their duties. Because at times that tunes out other distractions and allows the person to concentrate on the job at hand. I have used music many times to help in my concentration and to block out distractions that is an entirely different scenario. But to poke fun at a sedated patient, to leave a patient exposed whether only medical professionals are present, to refuse to provide items of clothing that will cover the private areas of a patient that does not need to be exposed, to only provide small drapes and partial gowns during physical exams is wrong, for a patient not to be provided gowns during a physical exam in a doctors office that if necessary that patient can stand and walk out of the room and be totally covered, for a medical professional to treat patients with the cavalier attitude "I have seen it all and so it is okay for me to see your all", for a nurse to tell a patient we prefer you naked because it makes my job easier, to provide a private room but then expect the patient to have bed baths, use bedside toilet or bedpan, dressing changes, doctor and nurse exams without a privacy screen just in case someone walks into the room unexpectedly

After all that has been said, I do want to also state that I have had exceptional care and that in fact the vast majority of individuals in the healthcare, teaching, animal care, child care professionals are wonderful, compassionate individuals who have their own high moral standards.

[dbabz]

In addition to all of the dignity and ethical issues, isn't there a direct correlation between time a patient is open and risk for infection? How many microbes took up residence in these patients' exposed flesh while the doctor was expressing her artistic side? I always learned that you go in, do what you gotta do and then close up ASAP.

[Razorback RN]

Wow! I don't even like to see parents taping and posting their kids as they are coming out of conscious sedation after a dental procedure. It is not funny. This is inexcusable.

No surprise that she was found negligent in at least one of the malpractice cases.

Windell Boutte: Georgia doctor who rapped and danced during plastic surgeries was negligent, lawsuits say - The Washington Post