Doctor without hearing aid couldn’t hear colonoscopy patient scream, Florida board says
FILE-Image of an empty examination room inside a hospital. (Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)
A doctor is on probation after issues with two colonoscopy procedures he supervised, including one involving a screaming patient.
Dr. Ishwari Prasad was placed on probation by the Florida Board of Medicine, and he is also required to pay a $7,500 fine.
The Miami Herald reports Prasad is required to pay $6,301 in Florida Department of Health care costs and must take a five-hour medical education course before Aug. 7, 2025.
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Prasad, a Florida gastroenterologist, was not wearing his hearing aids during two colonoscopy procedures he oversaw in 2023 at the Ambulatory Surgery Center in Tampa, Florida.
A Florida Department of Health administrative complaint, obtained by the Miami Herald, stated that during one or both procedures, the surgical team could not "effectively communicate" with Prasad.
The complaint also stated that during the first colonoscopy, Prasad "improperly delegated" a surgical technician, someone without a medical license, with a task the individual should not have performed.
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Citing the complaint, the Miami Herald noted that Prasad started inserting the scope before the patient was completely sedated during the second colonoscopy, and the patient began yelling.
Prasad has been licensed in Florida since 1990 and will not be allowed to perform any gastroenterology procedures on his own until he is either evaluated by the University of Florida’s assessment program and performs at least 10 gastroenterology procedures "under the supervision of a physician.
According to the Miami Herald, five of the medical operations must be colonoscopies, and the 10 procedures must be spread over five days. A recommendation will be made to the probation committee to determine when Prasad can go back to working alone.
FOX Television Stations reached out to Dr. Prasad’s office and the Florida Department of Health for comment.