Jun 26, 2008 8:28 pm US/Eastern
'Wrong Lung' Surgeon Has Checkered Past
Dr. Perera Cited Again In 2005 By N.J. Board Of Medical Examiners
Girlfriend Of Deceased Victim Speaks To CBS 2
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) ―
A doctor suspended for performing surgery on the wrong lung of a patient in 2000, got in trouble again a few years later.
CBS 2 first reported Richard Flagg's shocking story Wednesday night. Flagg went to Meadowlands Hospital for elective surgery, but left with a death sentence.
Flagg was diagnosed with a tumor in his left lung, but his doctor, Suhtasht Perera, botched the surgery, a point the patient brought up as soon as he woke up.
"He said right away to Dr. Perera, why are all the tubes on my right side when the tumor was on my left side?" said Flagg's girlfriend, Edith Bickoff.
With 40 percent of Flagg's healthy lung removed, surgeons couldn't operate again.
"The fact he stil had the tumor was never mentioned," added Bickoff.
But in fact, Flagg was slowly dying. Over the next three years, the tumor took its toll. The Air Force veteran began predicting how he would die.
"Richard said that when he passed, it would be because the tumor burst and he would drown in his own blood," said Bickoff.
On Thursday, CBS 2 learned that in 2005, Dr. Perera was again cited by New Jersey's Board of Medical Examiners. This time, for asking and permitting an RN to suture a patient. The RN wasn't qualified or even fully credentialed.
There is no record of the doctor admitting his error in the instance or in the more shocking procedure that eventually took Flagg's life. In fact, a document obtained by CBS 2 allegedly shows he even altered records to indicate a life threatening tumor in Flagg's right lung, despite it not existing.
New Jersey's Board of Medical Examiners suspended Perera's license, saying the tragic error could have been avoided had he engaged "in the most basic and minimal of actions that should have been taken by a surgeon in advance of surgery."
Taking into account complaint procedures and appeals, it took eight years for the Examiners Board to susped Perera. His license is not valid for two years and he's been ordered to pay more than $80,000 in fines and costs.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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