Cameras may be coming to an OR near you. Wisconsin state representative Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) is proposing a new bill that calls for more transparency in the OR. Her bill was prompted by the tragic death of a Wisconsin woman who passed away as a result of complications that occurred during a breast augmentation surgery performed in a private clinic in Florida.
The responsible surgeon, Dr. Kurt Dangl, listed himself as a board certified plastic surgeon on his website, but according to ABC News, not only was he not board certified, his medical degree was in oral surgery, not plastic surgery. To make matters worse, ABC news reports that, "He cut corners by not having an anesthesiologist or a nurse anesthetist in the room."
Cameras in the operating room, as requested by Sinicki, would make doctors more accountable and far less likely to engage in dangerous cost-saving practices like those done by Dr. Dangl.
Last week, Sinicki introduced the bill, which is named after Julie Ayer Rubenzer, the woman who died at the hands of Dr. Dangl. If passed, it will require Wisconsin facilities to install video cameras in all surgical settings. Sinicki says the “black box” approach to surgery would benefit both patients looking to file malpractice lawsuits and doctors who are defending themselves.
In a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, Sinicki said, “Patient lives have been severely altered or lost in Wisconsin and in other states due to practices and actions in operating rooms and outpatient facilities. Currently it is often impossible to find out exactly what happened during these procedures, since testimony from the attending medical staff is often the only source of information."
Opponents of the bill say it is “ill-conceived” and could harm doctor-patient relations. Hospital officials question how many cameras would be required to comply if the bill is made law as well as who would operate the cameras and how the information would need to be stored.
To date, no other state has a law like this one on the books.
To learn more, you can read the full Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article by John Fauber.
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