Description

Richard Sanders was a likable resident with a cadre of friends on the staff; his nemesis was a unilateral surgical decision and the swift processing of this decision which found him in surgery before interventions could be initiated. The changing of the preoperative diagnosis by the surgeon less than 24 hours before surgery, without notification to NDC officials, and the surgeon's previous intent to include permission for possible orchiectomy without rationale lends credence to the Commission and Mental Hygiene Medical Review Board's belief that the surgeon's actions in this case were questionable. Further, the intervention and deficient workup by the medical specialist and anesthetist exemplify the poor medical care delivered to this patient. There appeared to be a casual attitude towards unnecessary surgery among some medical practitioners at the facility.