Surgeon suspended for bank visit during operation

[StrawberryBSN, BSN, RN]

i cannot comprehend what this surgeon was thinking! what do you think would happen if this was a surgical nurse and s/he "stepped out" for a minute to run to the bank? what do you think his final punishment will be...a fine and a spanking? you think he'll show up in your state? ayyyyy...!

s_bsn

boston, massachusetts (ap) -- a surgeon who left a patient anesthetized and with an open incision in his back while he went to a bank several blocks away has had his medical license suspended.

the patient was not harmed, but dr. david c. arndt created an immediate threat when he left the patient at mount auburn hospital in cambridge to go to a bank in harvard square, the state board of registration in medicine said wednesday. it suspended his license indefinitely.

the board said arndt, a harvard-trained orthopedic surgeon, was six hours into a spine operation when he told the operating staff he needed to "step out." the board said he returned about 35 minutes later and finished the operation.

another surgeon who had walked into the operating area to deliver arndt's paycheck told the board arndt asked him to stay for a few minutes while he took a break. the other surgeon, who was not credentialed to perform the surgery and had not scrubbed in, assumed arndt was simply going to the restroom, the board said.

arndt later said that the surgery had run longer than he expected and that he had to get the check to the bank because he was in a financial crisis and had to pay bills.

his lawyer, claudia hunter, said thursday that arndt would appeal the board's decision.

"he regrets his actions of july 10 and apologizes to his patient," hunter said. "at the time of the events, the patient was stable and the surgery was successful."

arndt was suspended by mount auburn hospital last month. he is also licensed to practice medicine in louisiana.

[night owl]

Can you imagine? What the freak was he thinking?

Why would another surgeon even deliver his paycheck while he was in the middle of surgery? Is that insane??? Sounds fishy to me...He just HAD to get to that bank no matter what!

[2MagnoliaTrees]

Said he had emergency debts that had to be taken care of but I think any debt could have waited until after the operation. And what was the person thinking who went there to tell him that he had his check for him? Boy did they just fall "off the back of the turnip truck and hit their heads on the asphault". If I had been that patients family I definitely would have left an impression on him.

[2MagnoliaTrees]

Just read about him be licensed to practice in Louisiana. He'd better not come near me or mine or he'll be on a gurney looking up at the sky.

[sjoe]

Guess he needs to set up direct deposit!

[reddgott]

maybe it was pay as you go surgery, you know half now and half in the middle.etc.

[l.rae]

l bet he owed gambling debts and someone had threatened his family......my imagination works over time....like my body.LR

[donmurray]

I bet he's not laughing his way to the bank now!

[StrawberryBSN, BSN, RN]

originally posted by 2magnoliatrees

said he had emergency debts that had to be taken care of but i think any debt could have waited until after the operation. and what was the person thinking who went there to tell him that he had his check for him? boy did they just fall "off the back of the turnip truck and hit their heads on the asphault". if i had been that patients family i definitely would have left an impression on him.

ya know...i wonder if the hospital should share blame in his misguided descretion. was it hospital staff that couldn't wait until after the surgery to deliver this check? who's the driver? i'm sure the family will sue!

s_bsn

[debralynn]

Does this mean when I become a nurse, that instead of having to take my lunch hour to run to the bank, etc., all I really have to do is find the right doctor and he can do it all for me? Just think of it, the doc can also pick me up a pizza on their way back! Oh the possibilities!!!!

[norinradd]

I heard a story that he had to make a pyment to his girlfriend of she was going to have a talk with his wife. The medical board or your wife. Hmmm.

[rebelwaclause, ASN, RN]

How many nurses do you know that say "I'll be right back", leave the floor, and come back with goodies from the vending machine or lunch or something. They don't even bother to ask you to watch their patients, they just leave with the explanantion of "I'll be right back".

Norinradd - That's something! I'd let the girlfriend "chirp like a bird" if it came down to my license. Better yet, This is a good example to leave lust alone! (Or be better at it!).