Thith ith thooo not funny!..

[Peaches O Malley]

:stunned::shock: But I can't help the fact I pewed water when I read this I laughed so hard..........Im evil that way.::whistle::

An oral surgeon who temporarily implanted fake boar tusks in his assistant's mouth as a practical joke and got sued for it has gotten the state's high court to back up his gag.
Dr. Robert Woo of Auburn had put in the phony tusks while the woman was under anesthesia for a different procedure. He took them out before she awoke, but he first shot photos that eventually made it around the office.
The employee, Tina Alberts, felt so humiliated when she saw the pictures that she quit and sued her boss.
Woo's insurance company, Fireman's Fund, refused to cover the claim, saying the practical joke was intentional and not a normal business activity his insurance policy covered, so Woo settled out of court. He agreed to pay Alberts $250,000, then he sued his insurers.
A King County Superior Court jury sided with Woo, ordering Fireman's Fund to pay him $750,000, plus the out-of-court settlement. The insurance company won the next round, with the state Court of Appeals saying the prank had nothing to do with Woo's practice of dentistry. On Thursday, the state Supreme Court restored Woo's award.
In a sprightly 5-4 decision, Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst wrote that Woo's practical joke was an integral, if odd, part of the assistant's dental surgery and "conceivably" should trigger the professional liability coverage of his policy.
Dissenting Justice James Johnson said the prank wasn't a dental procedure at all and only "rewards Dr. Woo's obnoxious behavior and allows him to profit handsomely."
The back story, the court wrote, is that Alberts' family raises potbellied pigs and that she frequently talked about them at the office where she worked for five years.
Woo said his jests about the pigs were part of "a friendly working environment" that he tried to foster.
The oral surgery on Alberts was intended to replace two of her teeth with implants, which Woo did. First, though, he installed temporary bridges that he had shaped to look like boar tusks, and while Alberts was still under anesthesia, he took photos, some with her eyes propped open. Before she woke up, he removed the "tusks" and put in the proper replacement teeth.
Woo says he didn't personally show her the pictures but staffers gave her copies at a birthday party.
Woo's lawyer, Richard Kilpatrick, described the surgeon as a kindhearted, fun-loving man who was chagrined that an office prank turned out so badly. He was delighted with the high court's decision, Kilpatrick said.
Attorneys for the insurance company did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

[Bonnie Strangeways]

Frankly, I wouldn't have sued him...I'd a beat the holy living shit out of him and broken every gods-be-damned bone in his hands so that he could never practicce his trade again. And then I'd be beating his face so that his own mother didn't recognize him...just for shits and giggles 'cause he'd pissed me off so much!!!

Too vengeful...not at all. He did a malicious practical joke on a co-worker (harassment, malicious mischief and probably malpractice) and then cries foul when the photographic images he took of her when she was unconcious and in an unprotected state and that he passed around the office to her fellow coworkers came to her attention.

Yeah, he's bloody feckin' lucky it wasn't me...I'd be havin' his ass with a side of hot sauce thankyouverymuch.

[Lady Hefron]

I think this man is cruel. He deserved to loose money and patients. The court was wrong! My .02

[Ysobelle]

If he really meant it just as a "harmless, genial joke," she wouldn't have found out about it from other people at a party.

Unless he gave the pictures to others specifically to present to her in a nice frame-- which is still iffy, cos she should never have been the last to know-- I call bullshit.

[daBaroness]

I dunno - maybe I'm starved for some laughter in my life lately - but I'd have laughed myself silly if it had been me. I'd only be sad he'd taken them out before I woke up. But then again - I live for the making people laugh - even if it's at my own expense and generally offer myself up as fodder.

But I realize I'm a freak like that ...

[SpeedKnight]

I dunno - maybe I'm starved for some laughter in my life lately - but I'd have laughed myself silly if it had been me. I'd only be sad he'd taken them out before I woke up. But then again - I live for the making people laugh - even if it's at my own expense and generally offer myself up as fodder.

But I realize I'm a freak like that ...

Y'know... I very rarely find myself agreeing with anything daBaroness ever has to say, but this is one time I do. I don't think the guy is mean. Had I been in the lady's position, I would have laughed my ass off. More over, I would have left the implants in place for a spell.

And just so you know its not a "guy thing," SM agrees with me.

[LadyLaura]

More over, I would have left the implants in place for a spell.


I would have WANTED the fake implants made into temporaries for Halloween! lol That would be very cool!

[daBaroness]

Gee thanks SK ... I think.

[Gellis Indigo]

Let me get this straight: An oral surgeon performs a procedure on a patient. During this procedure he betrays the patients trust by placing dental implants in her mouth that were not discussed in pre-surgery consultation (aka without her consent). He then take pictures of her with these unagreed upon implants. Once the fun has been had he finishes the procedure as agreed upon. Do I have that right?

Problem #1: He strayed from the agreed upon procedure.

Problem #2: This "practical joke" must surely have increased the time the patient was under ansthesia.

Problem #3: By showing the pictures he must have violated some sort of HIPPA (HIPAA?) regulations.

I don't care if this patient worked for him. He did not have her permission to do what he did.

How is this any different from the gynocologist that would drug his patients and then have sex with them under the guise of performing an exam? (Yes, I know, this patient wasn't raped, but something was done to her without her consent)

What's the Hippocratic Oath state...something like "First do no harm".

What this guy did is repulsive.

[MaidenFaeSnow]

Let me get this straight: An oral surgeon performs a procedure on a patient. During this procedure he betrays the patients trust by placing dental implants in her mouth that were not discussed in pre-surgery consultation (aka without her consent). He then take pictures of her with these unagreed upon implants. Once the fun has been had he finishes the procedure as agreed upon. Do I have that right?

Problem #1: He strayed from the agreed upon procedure.

Problem #2: This "practical joke" must surely have increased the time the patient was under ansthesia.

Problem #3: By showing the pictures he must have violated some sort of HIPPA (HIPAA?) regulations.

I don't care if this patient worked for him. He did not have her permission to do what he did.

How is this any different from the gynocologist that would drug his patients and then have sex with them under the guise of performing an exam? (Yes, I know, this patient wasn't raped, but something was done to her without her consent)

What's the Hippocratic Oath state...something like "First do no harm".

What this guy did is repulsive.

I'm sorry but I have to agree here. Funny or not, it is ethically wrong. Just put yourself in the patients shoes and I just don't see how you could think anything else. Even if you do/did get a giggle out of the story.

[AnnaFaerie]

Regardless of the fact that this "practical joke" was just beyond stupid in my not so humble opinion. The problem I have in this situation is that this jackass put himself in the line of fire for being sued. When he was sued and the insurance wouldn't pay...he sues them. That the courts sided with him amazes me.

This "doctor" didn't do his best work on a patient. He used his patient as a butt to a joke. How is that professional? He wasn't working away dilligently and had a horrible problem out of his control cause his patient harm. He was being a teenaged asshat showing off at a patient's and employee's expense. I think it is pitiful.

His little joke will cost decent insured people to pay more for crap-assed insurance.

His license should be pulled.

How many years ago was it that a OB/GYN carved his name on a womans uterus (was that it?). He was sued and lost. As he should have.

Sorry, I see nothing funny in what he did to this woman. Had he had her permission...then it would have been funny.

[renren]

Yeah, I would SO want to KICK HIS ASS!
(so hard he'd sniff his own a**hole!)

[Bean]

Yeah, I gotta agree with the negative side of this. I hope his insurance company fights it all the way to the high court. It was a GROSS violation of doctor/patient trust. I don't care if it was an employee or not, she was his patient at that point and he violated his part of the agreement.

Now, if he had made the implants and given them to her at a party or something it would have been funny. But this was way out of the funny league.

[MaidenFaeSnow]

Yeah, I gotta agree with the negative side of this. I hope his insurance company fights it all the way to the high court. It was a GROSS violation of doctor/patient trust. I don't care if it was an employee or not, she was his patient at that point and he violated his part of the agreement.

Now, if he had made the implants and given them to her at a party or something it would have been funny. But this was way out of the funny league.


And I would have to think that the employee used THIS doctors services due in part to a higher level of TRUST given the situation:roll:.

[fresa3302]

If he really meant it just as a "harmless, genial joke," she wouldn't have found out about it from other people at a party.

Unless he gave the pictures to others specifically to present to her in a nice frame-- which is still iffy, cos she should never have been the last to know-- I call bullshit.


I hear what daBaroness is saying... one of the most valuable things that my mom has taught me is to laugh at myself.

However, being the last to know, finding out like she did... I think that it would upset my sense of security. She trusted that doctor. It would make me feel like "Wow. He could have done ANYTHING to me and I would not have known."

So, yes. I get the joke. His judgment was very poor.

[Mistress Morigianna]

had he made them and given the fakes as a joke and she posed for pictures- then its a joke.

taking pictures and saying- she wasn't suppossed to see them.....
not a joke- ivasion of privacy and more.

maybe a joke would have been a picture of her when she was all spitting and slobbery & numb. But altering her while she was under and taking pictures is wrong.

I bet had he askedher to pose she would have.

[daBaroness]

OK - I recant. Parts of it are still funny to me - and I probably would have laughed. But you're all right on when you say that doing it without her consent and then taking pictures of it and circulating them in the hopes she'd not see them was wrong. Maybe he ought to stick to dentistry rather than comedy - because the most important thing you need to have before you do comedy is you MUST know your audience.

[Selena]

Practical jokes are one thing, but this goes beyond joking with your colleagues. This woman was knocked out... by a drug... for a specific dental procedure. Not for her boss's/dentist's amusement. Her trust was violated. Had she been awake, it would be a different story. Then the doc proceeds to take photos and pass them around the office without the patient's knowledge or consent? That's not a joke. That's a very back handed way of making fun of someone you work with. Jokes aren't intended to make fun of someone in front of the entire office and manipulate their body while they are unconcious. I find it unprofessional and very meanspirited. I'd be livid, too.

[Ysobelle]

Also-- he propped her eyes open?! That's just CREEPY!