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After he ate lunch in the car, and fell asleep while waiting for surgery to begin, a Boston doctor has come under fire.
According to a consent order obtained from The Boston Globe, Dr. Tony Tannoury was fined by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine for conduct that undermines public confidence in integrity of the medical profession. Tannoury told the board that he fell asleep in his car while eating lunch, and missed an ankle operation he was supposed in November 2016.
A chief resident was able to successfully complete the procedure.
Jenny Eriksen Leary spoke on behalf of the hospital and said that the surgery was successful. She said that the hospital was open and transparent with the patient about the situation, as well as who performed the operation.
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Tannoury was written reprimanded by the hospital for not following its rules that surgeons must be present during crucial parts of an operation. Boston Medical Center reported the matter to the medical board. Tannoury was fined $5,000 and required to take continuing education credits in professionalism.
One doctor says that is not enough.
It's not a slap on your wrist, Dr. James Rickert of the Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics told the Globe. Rickert is a strong advocate for transparency between surgeons, patients and their families. He has also criticised doctors who fail to tell patients that they may not be performing a particular procedure.
It is hard to believe that, even if the board was made up mostly of patients, they wouldn't have received a harsher penalty.
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Surgeons who take a nap during a procedure were under increased scrutiny. This was a serious enough problem that the Globes Spotlight team investigated Tannourey's previous operations as part of an investigation into surgeons who did two operations simultaneously without informing patients.
READ MORE: Boston Medical Center surgeon is fined after leaving the operating room to eat in his vehicle, falling asleep and missing the procedure [The Boston Globe]
More about troubled hospitals: Hospitals say they won't do organ transplants on unvaccinated people
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