It's pretty frightening that defamation now apparently occurs between two doctors who are "joking" around in the operating room.
Defamation is anything that is taken literally that is spoken to at least one other party.
There were at least three people in the operating room besides the patient (two doctors and a medical student). Likely there were nurses who were entering or leaving assisting in the procedure, not to mention any observations occuring outside.
They discussed lying to the patient after he woke up from anesthesia and they falsified medical records by placing a knowingly incorrect diagnosis on his chart.
Have you ever been under anesthesia or waited for a loved one to come out of surgery? A person is incredibly vulnerable and must trust the team working on them to
a) not harm them
b) respect their dignity
You are placing all of your trust on the competence and professionalism in a team of people who you have *usually* just met. The anesthesiologist assigned for a surgery is *usually* the first one available in a hospital, not someone you get to know and trust before hand.
@Ravael and Ramyrez
This wasn't a patient who was dying. There was no need to deal in gallows humor, which this wasn't. This was a snide doctor who got annoyed by her patient asking questions, stating his phobias, and explaining what other medicine he is currently on (something that doctors normally want patients to do). Someone she felt he needed to "man up" and deal with it.
Medical personnel can deal with crappy situations, long hours, and trauma. None of which seems to be occuring here.
Before you both give more anecdotal evidence of people you know in the medical field, so do I. I also had emergency surgery last year.
This was not acceptable behavior from professionals. This is the type of incident that also hinders other doctors and nurses gain the trust of laymen who have a very little understanding of what is about to occur and who are nervous. Routine procedures still carry risks and people undergoing them can and will be nervous.
It is the doctors and nurses responsiblity to calm and explain to the patient what is about to happen. If they didn't like dealing with people/patients they could have gone into research instead.