A Florida doctor has been disciplined by the state after one of his patients accused him of not hearing their “screams” during a colonoscopy because he was not wearing his hearing aid.
Dr. Ishwari Prasad, a Tampa gastroenterologist who is hard of hearing, was placed on probation last week by the state medical board, allegedly for not wearing his hearing aids while performing colonoscopy, causing his patients untold pain.
Another of Prasad’s patients described an eerily similar experience she said she had in a separate incident in 2018.
“I was a little bit panicky because I couldn’t move. And I’m fully aware of what’s happening. I can hear everything that’s happening around me. And I can actually see the doctor,” Ingrid Rafael said. Fox 13 following the lawsuit.
A nine-page complaint from the Florida Department of Health makes disturbing allegations about two patients, not Rafael, who were admitted to the Ambulatory Surgery Center in Tampa in June 2023.
Ingrid Rafael shared a story that was eerily similar to the one in Prasad’s lawsuit, in which she claimed that she too woke up during a colonoscopy performed by the doctor
The Tampa Ambulatory Surgery Center (pictured) is where two patients underwent a routine colonoscopy that reportedly turned out to be a terrifying experience
The complaint states that one of the patients, who was partially anesthetized, woke up during the procedure in excruciating pain, but Prasad, who initially denied all the allegations in the complaint, did not record the patient’s cries.
“I just panicked because I couldn’t move. And the pain, the pain is what really hit me,” Rafael said of the moment she woke up in her own separate incident.
After initially denying the lawsuit’s claims, Prasad told Fox13 that he stopped the procedure when he realized the patient, who he said had been “sedated by the anesthesiologist,” was awake. He then re-sedated the patient and began the procedure again.
“I understand that it’s not necessarily just the doctor. But you know, he’s the one who’s ultimately in charge,” Rafael said of Prasad’s latest response to the lawsuit.
A stock photo of an instrument used by doctors during a colonoscopy procedure
“What angers me most is that he doesn’t necessarily acknowledge where he went wrong.”
According to the petition, the surgical team was also unable to communicate effectively with the doctor during surgery.
The complaint also alleged that Prasad “improperly” delegated duties to an unlicensed surgical assistant.
According to the complaint, the surgical assistant, who did not have a medical license, was instructed under Prasad’s direction to perform part of the procedure, “including inserting the scope, manipulating the scope, manipulating the loop over polyps, and/or removing polyps.”
Rafael says she is still shocked and traumatized after her own treatment.
“I feel like I wake up after every procedure I have because there is no rest,” she told the newspaper.
The doctor, who has never faced disciplinary action before, is barred from performing solo procedures until he receives approval from a state-licensed, supervising physician, the Florida Board of Medicine said.
On top of those restrictions, he was fined $7,500 and ordered to pay $6,301 in court costs, according to Today in the US.
In addition, he must take a five-hour continuing medical education course next year on laws, regulations and ethics.
Prasad did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.