Industry News | 01.22.25
Oregon Hospital Sued After Man’s Face Caught Fire Mid-Surgery
By NAMSS Staff
The Guardian (01/14/25) Betts, Anna
The wife and family of John Michael Murdoch are demanding $900,000 from the hospital where his face caught on fire mid-surgery while he was allegedly awake. The allegations are contained in a malpractice lawsuit filed against Oregon Health and Science University. The suit maintains Murdoch’s ordeal unfolded as he was undergoing surgery in 2022 while being treated for a type of skin cancer on his tongue. Medical staffers failed to let alcohol swabbed on his face dry properly, and his face ignited due to a spark from a surgical tool, the lawsuit charges. Murdoch’s surgery was a tracheostomy, which is a procedure to insert a breathing tube into one's throat. He had been swabbed with isopropyl alcohol to sterilize him for the operation. Defendants named in the lawsuit include the hospital; Dr Adam Howard, a physician whose medical license lapsed in January 2024; and 10 unnamed surgical staffers. No one has commented on the matter, citing patient privacy laws.
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