Published by A man named Richard Flagg had a tumor on his left lung and made an appointment with doctors for surgery. On the day of appointment, the doctor did not even clearly read the patient file and the surgeons operated on the patient’s right lung – essentially cutting it off even though the tumor was on the left lung. The Surgery happened in Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus in September 2000 and was led by a doctor named Dr. Santusht Perera. Upon realization of his error, the doctor then went even as far as altering medical files and making fake records to justify his mistaken surgery.
The patient went onto live for three more years and died with severe pain as his tumor ruptured and he choked on his own blood in the left lung. As punishment of his mistake, the Medical board suspended the doctor for a really short time and fined him around $80,000 for gross negligence. From the Catholic teachings on moral responsibility, the doctor is very much responsible for the death of Richard Flagg and deserved to get a more heavy punishment than the “slap on the wrist” he got from the medical board. According to the Catholic teachings, a person is responsible for a situation or an act that occurs if they have the knowledge of the situation, the ability to act on it, time to be aware of the consequences and deliberate intention to harm knowingly.
In this event, Dr. Santusht Perera clearly knew that he made a mistake and that the mistake occurred because he did not carefully read the patient file or look at where the tumor was before he did the surgery. But even with the ability to somehow rectify the situation or disclose the situation and then try to fix it, the doctor deliberately set out to fake medical records – harming the patient as the patient was unaware of the mistake and the tumor continued to grow in his left lung. The doctor had plenty of time to know the consequences of his mistake and instead of trying to somehow save the patient’s life, the doctor did not help the patient and thus, he harmed the patient directly through his silence and mistake. The doctor should be held responsible and the punishment for such negligence should have been a lot worse than simple suspension and an out-of-court settlement with Mr. Flagg’s family. Morally, ethically and religiously, the doctor was wrong and is responsible for the murder of Mr. Flagg.
Negligence and cruelty also occur on the part of the civilian population. A man named Angel Torres was a victim of a hit and run by a driver and lay motionless in the middle of the street in Hartford, Connecticut. On a busy street, the man of 78 years with seven grandchildren lay motionless as car after car drove by his body without stopping and pedestrians continued their normal business with no due concern to the plight of this man. A surveillance camera at a traffic light caught the entire scene and the city’s newspaper proclaimed the event as “so inhumane” in blaring capitals on the front page. The police department called the event just morally wrong. So why did the people not help the man? Because as one bystander put it, he did not “feel comfortable helping” Mr. Torres and that he was “bleeding and conscious.” But are we as individuals supposed to help in such situations? Are we morally responsible? Catholic teachings on responsibility says that we are not responsible if we acted in “true ignorance” or if you have a disability or there was no time to see the consequences and no way to see the dangers. But obliviously, none of these were applicable to the bystanders, pedestrians and the drivers that did nothing to help Mr. Torres – not even dial 911.
The people certainly had knowledge that Mr. Torres was hurt but did nothing to approach the man or call the ambulance or police. They had the ability to act on the situation but “did nothing” as local shop owners stated. With very much of a sick deliberate intent, the people did not approach the man to provide a helping hand. And what is even worse is that no one called the police and just watched or continued with their normal business until a police cruiser going down the street accidentally stopped the man lying in the middle of the street hurt. Police Chief lamented the direction our society was heading and he said “we have no regard for each other.”
God called us to be compassionate to the unfortunate and as Christians and as individuals in a society with ethical and moral standards – we have an obligation to help the needy, the poor, the hurt, the marginalized and stand up for what is right. In both examples, it showed people at work that deserted their duty to fellow man – both violating the laws of God and the laws of man.
Sources for the stories:
http://www.wfsb.com/news/16527911/detail.html
http://rocklaw.net/CM/Articles/In-Memory-of-Richard-Flagg.html
Very well written. People should be held responsible for their actions or involvement in the actions.
Great article
Hi Ebey, this is an excellent article and well written, doctors should be held accountable for their actions!!!!
Nice article, that doctor should be in jail, and certainly never allowed near another patient.
Well written article. I think that France has a Good Samaritan law – it was in the news when Princess Diana was killed and the papparzi just took pictures. It is a sad commentary on our society that we need to legislate compassion.
Also – no doctor operates without a team. It would be interesting to know why no one else took action.
A very good article. nice write!
A well written piece indeed. I’m really touched as I’m reminded of so many irresponsible leaders in my country who succumb to corruption at the expense of the people whose lives are drawn to too much poverty and sufferings. thanks for your piece.
A blood boiling episode.