14 DAY TRIAL // A woman is suing the hospital where she has worked for over a decade for an operating room prank.
While submitting herself to a surgical procedure, the anesthesiologist put her out, stuck a mustache and fake tears on her face, and captured a photo of her. He then allegedly spread that photo on Facebook.
36-year-old Veronica Valdez has sued not only Dr. Patrick Yang, but also the Torrance Memorial Medical Center in California.
She was employed by the medical facility for 13 years before the surgery and she was acquainted with the staff.
During her operation for some fingers issues, she had medication labels placed on her face with scissors.
“There’s no such thing as a joke in the operating room. For them to play a joke is cruel in my opinion. [...] I have not seen anything like this. It’s an incredible breach of privacy, of HIPAA, of common decency, of the Hippocratic Oath,” her attorney, Andrew Ryan, tells the Daily Breeze.
Yang argued that he was just joking around with a co-worker. He had nursing assistant Patricia Gomez snap the photo of Valdez.
“I don’t recall my state of mind except that I thought she would think that was funny, so I did that so she would get a kick out of it. [...] I think she would get a laugh out of it. She would appreciate it, thought that was funny,” he has stated.
Gomez admits to snapping the pic but denies uploading it to Facebook. The operating room staff were present and laughed at the prank.
The patient also claims that she has incurred cervical spine issues after the anesthesia. Hospital officials are trying to get the suit dismissed.
“Most of the allegations stated in the plaintiff’s complaint are factually inaccurate, grossly exaggerated or fabricated.
“The patient and her attorney reported the incident to multiple authorities who conducted investigations. No criminal charges were filed or citations given,” they say in a statement.