Doctor Mistakenly Lights Patient On Fire During C-Section; Found Not Liable By A Jury

This is a pretty shocking case that I would like to share with you. The jury ended up returning a verdict of not guilty in this case, only because of the facts and circumstances surrounding the case were not in the plaintiff’s favor. In this case, a hospital staff actually ended up igniting a woman on fire during a C-section!

This incident is shocking to hear about—particularly because most women are actually awake and not unconscious for a C-section. Therefore, she was actually awake at the time she was on fire—albeit she did not know she was on fire. As crazy as this sounds, surgical fires are actually not uncommon but are not unheard of and there are approximately 600 each year; that is more than one a day!

What had happened was a young mother had done to Crouse Hospital in New York for the delivery of her second child. The operation was slightly more complicated due to some extra factors. During the operation, the mother who is having the C-section, began to smell something that was not anything she could recognize and she became a little concerned.

The scary thing was that the mother was actually on fire, and smelled her burning flesh. Doctors immediately put the fire out and prevented extensive harm, even though the mother still suffered third-degree burns.

What had happened was the cauterizing tool, which is used in most operations, actually ignited and burned the alcohol-based antiseptic which is used to clean the area before making incisions. The company, DuraPrep, had warned that the antiseptic was flammable until dry.

The patient had settled with the hospital previously, but the jury did find the doctor not liable. The baby was not injured in the incident.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com . You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.