Surgeon Fired for Posing as a Nurse and Warning (Harrassing) Patients
Posted on 17. Jun, 2010 in News Stories
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Cosmetic surgery is big money, but it wasn’t big enough for Dr. Harrold. He wanted more. After all, no one would care if he just took a bit more from the big, bad insurance companies, right?
It was April of 2003 when Margaret, then a 65-year old woman, visited Dr. Arnold because she was experiencing kidney failure. And then something bad happened…
Delia could feel herself waking up from the anesthetic, remembering where she was and why she was there. She could hear the distant bustle of the hospital, the rhythmic beep of the machines, and the doctor’s lips against hers…wait, what?
Dr. Neelu Pal was a surgical resident at NYU Langone Medical Center where bariatric surgery, including the lap-band, was performed. During the course of her training, she became alarmed at how things were being done at the hospital.
After witnessing the death of a patient in 2006, Dr. Pal took it upon herself to be vigilent on behalf of future patients. On weekends when she had time, Dr. Pal would anonymously phone patients who were scheduled for lap-band surgery. Pretending to be someone else, such as an operating nurse, she would warn the patients that she “had watched many patients die from the procedure.”
She would go on to encourage the patients to get surgery elsewhere, insisting that “there were serious quality issues with the bariatric surgery program” at that hospital.
The patient who died in 2006 was Rhonda Frieberg. She had bariatric surgery followed immediately by plastic surgery. Just 36 hours after surgery, Rhonda died from cardiac arrest.
The New York Department of Health had reviewed and found that the hospital did not properly monitor Rhonda after surgery. In addition, one of the surgeons testified that some of the physicians hired by the hospital were unlicensed.
In Rhonda’s case, NYU settled for $973,000.
Not long after Dr. Pal started calling patients anonymously, an NYU investigation eventually pointed her to be the prime suspect. She confessed and was suspended and fired for making the calls. Her bosses called this an “egregious example of unprofessional and irresponsible behavior.”
Dr. Pal finished her training at University Medical Center at Princeton. She also sued NYU for whistleblower retaliation. Last month, Dr. Pal and NYU agreed to settle the case for an undisclosed sum.
Suzie
Jun 17th, 2010
What this doctor did was out of concern for the patients. I wish there were more like her. Seems as if we only hear about Doctor’s misconduct resulting in the patients being harmed in some way, but in this case what she did was to their benefit. Good for her!
joyfulbeth
Jul 20th, 2010
Suzie, could not agree more, BUT, in our world (professional medical personnel) we know that is not the way to do it. There is always more than one way to say everything. I think the doc should have followed protocol before becoming a vigilante.