More than 12 violations cited; Ethicon denies claims
January 1, 1999 2 minutes read
More than 12 violations cited; Ethicon denies claims
One surgeon was already on probation
State health investigators concluded that more than a dozen medical standards were violated in a hysteroscopy at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, including the use of equipment not authorized by the hospital and allowing an unlicensed person to operate medical devices.
The report also revealed that one of the doctors, Marc Sklar, MD, already was on a five-year probation from the state office of professional conduct. He was placed on probation in 1997 after 20 charges of misconduct involving the delivery of babies, with the requirement that he be supervised by another physician during the delivery of babies but not during other procedures.
According to the hospital, Sklar resigned his privileges after the fatal hysteroscopy. The other surgeon, Robert Klinger, MD, was suspended for two weeks and now is allowed to resume surgery. He was prohibited from performing other hysteroscopies until after completing further training, the hospital reported.
Healthcare Risk Management contacted Sklar’s and Klinger’s offices for comments, as well as the attorneys representing both doctors, but the calls were not returned. Beth Israel released a statement saying, "those who acted inappropriately violated Medical Center rules and procedures and have been severely disciplined." The statement also noted that it "from the outset has accepted its responsibility in this case. It immediately notified the New York State Depart ment of Health of the incident, and launched an extensive investigation."
Beth Israel also noted its "plan of correction to the New York State Department of Health details actions — most of which were implemented soon after the incident occurred one year ago — that will prevent such an occurrence from happening again." Because of the impending litigation, Beth Israel officials would not allow their risk manager to comment.
Ethicon spokeswoman Susan Odenthal denies the conclusions in the state health department report and says Myers did not participate in the surgery. Ethicon policy forbids salespeople from participating in surgery, and "our information is that the Ethicon representative present during the procedure at Beth Israel Medical Center adhered to that policy, which prohibits him from contact with the patient or medical instrumentation during the surgical procedures."
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