Don't Touch Me There !

[Miranda]

NY Jury Rejects Rectal Exam Lawsuit

Tue Apr 22, 2008

A hospital did nothing wrong when it tried to examine the rectum of a construction worker who had been hit on the head by a falling wooden beam, a jury found Monday.

After deliberating for about an hour, a state Supreme Court jury awarded nothing to Brian Persaud, who sued NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital for unspecified damages. The panel found the hospital and its emergency room medical staff were not liable.

Persaud's lawyers, Gerard Marrone and Gary DeFilippo, said he might appeal.

"We're very disappointed," Marrone said after the two-week trial. "It's a miscarriage of justice."

The hospital's lawyer, Jeffrey Lawton, declined comment.

Marrone said Persaud, 38, was injured while working at a construction site in midtown Manhattan on May 20, 2003. Persaud received eight stitches for a cut over his eyebrow at the hospital, but denied emergency room staffers' request to examine his rectum, the lawyer said. He said doctors told Persaud the exam could help determine whether the accident caused spinal damage.

When Persaud resisted, staffers held him down while he begged, "Please don't do that," Marrone said. Persaud hit a doctor while flailing around, so the staffers gave him a powerful sedative and performed the rectal exam, he said.

Hospital witnesses testified at trial that the exam was never completed, but Marrone said that when Persaud woke up he was handcuffed to a bed and had an oxygen tube down his throat and lubricant in his rectum.

"He resisted because he didn't know what they were doing," DeFilippo said. "Once he said he didn't want the rectal exam, everything should have stopped."

DeFilippo said he believes the rectal exam was done as retaliation because his panicked client hit the doctor.

A judge dismissed a misdemeanor assault charge that was filed against Persaud because he hit the doctor.

DeFilippo said his client is unemployed and has been unable to hold a job since the accident.

2008 The Associated Press.

[Homicidalheathen]

Thats fucked up. He should have won. I have had something similar happen but not as bad.

[Rev.Reverence]

I dare say... he got wronged...

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Twice

[Oh_My_Goth]

That's crappy.....

[Miranda]

This hospital had no right to do this to this person. If you say "no" it fucking means no. It is illegal for any procedure to be done without your consent. How he did not win this case, I do not know. Though I do know that Physicians, Nurses and general hospital staff will stick together and will lie if they have to. They want to keep that high paying job. I have gone through it myself. I hope he appeals this decision.

[TygerLili]

WTF?

The hospital should have just had him sign a waiver that he refused to have the procedure done, and he wouldn't sue them if it did turn out that he had spinal damage they were unable to detect because they couldn't perform their test.

[~Tszura~]

Unfortunately, hospitals can get away with a lot of things when it comes to doing things against people will. If you start resisting any treatment, ooooooo~watch out, here comes the tranquilizer, hand cuffs, and other restraints. This guy said "no," and I agree, it should have stopped there. We all have the right to refuse treatment. I'm with TygerLili in that they could have just had him sign a waiver to cover their butts :0 in proving they did inform him of the exam's purpose and risks in declining treatment.

I understand, to a point, why the hospitals medically restrain some people if they start to get out of hand. There are a lot of people who could potentially casue a lot of damage to others and themselves when they freak out, but this guy didn't sound like one of them.

[Fin]

I am very surprised with the outcome of this case.

This gentleman has a great case for appeal in civil court & major punitive damages if he decides to take it that way, & the hospital should be taken to task for the breach.