A Boston surgeon was fined just $5,000 and has been allowed to continue working after leaving a patient on an operating table waiting on emergency ankle surgery while he napped in his car.
Massachusetts state regulators fined 54-year-old Dr. Tony Tannoury, the head of spine surgery at Boston Medical Center, $5,000 for leaving a patient on the operating room table before the start of an ankle surgery to go to his parked car to eat before he passed out and missed the procedure, the Boston Globe reported.
Tannoury must also complete five further training sessions, but won't be suspended from his job, and can continue to operate.
The surgeon has worked as the head of spinal surgery at the prestigious Boston University School of Medicine, which works with the the medical center, since 2006, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Massachusetts regulators fined Dr. Tony Tannoury, (pictured) the head of spine surgery at Boston Medical Center, $5,000 for leaving a patient on the operating room table
Tannoury has worked as the head of spinal surgery at the Boston University School of Medicine since 2006, according to his LinkedIn profile
Tannoury woke up in his car hours after falling asleep and called the hospital. But he was told a chief resident performed the operation he was meant to oversee. It had been a success, despite his disappearance, and he did not return to the hospital until the following day, according to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine.
Two months later the November 2016 incident was reported to the state board which resulted in an investigation.
Following it's investigation the board concluded that Tannoury 'engaged in conduct that undermines the public confidence in the integrity of the medical profession.' In addition to the fine, he was ordered to complete five continuing education credits in 'professionalism' and review regulations for supervising residents, the Globe reported.
Tannoury woke up and called the hospital but was told a chief resident performed the operation he was meant to oversee
The incident was not made public until almost five years after it took place.
According to hospital spokeswoman Jenny Eriksen Leary the outcome of the procedure was positive and the hospital was transparent with the patient about what occurred and who ended up performing the operation.
According to medical board records, all fees connected with the operation were waived, the Globe reported.
Dr. James Rickert, president of the Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics, told the Globe that Tannoury's actions were 'egregious' and that his small fine was inadequate.
'That's just the proverbial slap on the wrist,' he said. 'I can't believe that if that was a board composed mostly of patients that they wouldn't have had a much harsher penalty.'
But this was not the 54-year-old's surgeons first time being reprimanded for his job performance.
A consent order he signed last month revealed that Tannoury had previously received a written reprimand from the hospital for violating its policy requiring surgeons to be present for critical parts of operations, the Globe reported.
Additionally, in 2015 the Boston Globe's spotlight team published a report that revealed Tannoury would sometimes run simultaneous operating rooms at once, a policy that Boston Medical Center discontinued following the in-depth report.
The hospital insisted that the practice had not compromised patient safety.
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