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Wednesday, 12 February, 2025
HomeMedico-LegalFamily sues after patient’s face catches fire in surgery

Family sues after patient’s face catches fire in surgery

The wife of a US man whose alcohol-swabbed face caught alight during surgery has filed a $900 000 lawsuit against the hospital.

John Michael Murdoch, who was 51 at the time, was “awake and conscious” when a spark from a surgical tool ignited his skin during the December 2022 surgery at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).

The tool had a history of sparking and the fire was fuelled by the use of oxygen and unevaporated isopropyl alcohol, according to the lawsuit and the attorney who filed the lawsuit.

Oregon Live reports that Murdoch was undergoing a tracheostomy after he was diagnosed with a form of cancer in his tongue, squamous cell carcinoma.

Murdoch lived for six more months with disfiguring scars, swelling and wounds to his face that never healed before he died of the disease in June 2023, said lawyer Ron Cheng, who filed the lawsuit.

Cheng added Murdoch was unable to speak clearly at the time, but was able to express the trauma he endured from his burns to his wife, Toni Murdoch.

Sara Hottman, an OHSU spokesperson, declined to comment, citing patient privacy laws. Hottman said the physician, who is also listed in the lawsuit as a defendant – Dr Adam Howard – couldn’t comment for the same reason.

Surgical staff whose identities aren’t yet known to Cheng are also listed as defendants.

Oregon Medical Board records show Howard finished his otolaryngology residency in 2022 in Illinois and became licensed to practise medicine in Oregon that same year.

In January 2024, about a year after Murdoch’s face caught on fire, Howard’s medical licence switched to “lapsed” status. Although OHSU’s website still lists him as an instructor, Howard appears to be working for a university in West Virginia, where he is now licensed to practise medicine.

According to the Emergency Care Research Institute, there are an estimated 90 to 100 surgical fires in the US each year, but many are not reported because of embarrassment, the possibility of investigation or lawsuits.

The American College of Surgeons states that “perfect conditions exist for fire in the OR” and urged surgical teams to “become vigilant” to prevent them.

The Joint Commission, an organisation that seeks to improve patient safety, issued an alert in 2023 warning of the three elements, known as the “fire triangle” that increase risk: oxygen, ignition sources and fuel. The lawsuit over Murdoch’s surgery says all three were present when his face burned.

 

OregonLive article – OHSU patient’s face catches fire after surgical staff swabbed his skin with alcohol, $900,000 lawsuit (Open access)

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