Nightmare operation

Awakened from anesthesia: face was on fire!

What a nightmare: Patient John Murdoch (before the operation, small picture) woke up in the operating theater because his face was on fire!(Bild: jenshagen – stock.adobe.com, Cheng Anwaltkanzlei, Krone KREATIV)

An incredible story has taken place - once again - in the USA. Patient John Murdoch is said to have woken up from anesthesia during a surgical procedure in a clinic in Oregon to find his face on fire. 

Even the first part of a widow's claim for damages against a clinic in Oregon sounds like the ultimate patient nightmare. Toni Murdoch claims that her husband John was "awake and out of his mind" during a surgical procedure on his neck. 

According to Toni Murdoch's lawsuit against Oregon Health & Science University Hospital, her husband, who suffers from tongue cancer, was scheduled to have a tracheotomy in December 2022.

Spark ignited alcohol
The surgeons wanted to insert a tube down Murdoch's throat for breathing. Before the incision, the patient's face was rubbed with isopropyl alcohol on the operating table to sterilize it. Because the substance "was not fully dried, a spark ignited by a surgical tool ignited his face".

John Murdoch before the operation. His widow is demanding 900,000 dollars in compensation on behalf of her dead husband.(Bild: Cheng Anwaltskanzlei )

The 52-year-old is said to have been "disfigured and traumatized" as a result and "suffered severe pain from the burns" until his death from cancer six months later.

"This incident should never have happened"
In "The Oregonian", family lawyer Ron Cheng accuses the hospital and surgeon Dr. Adam Howard of negligence and medical malpractice: "This incident should never have happened. The surgical tools used had already sparked in the past. The combination of oxygen, wet alcohol and a source of fire created a 'fire triangle'."

Widow fights for 900,000 dollars in damages
According to court documents, Howard had only obtained his medical license in Oregon in the same year of the Murdoch procedure, but did not renew it in January 2024. He now works as a lecturer at West Virginia University, where he has obtained a new license. Murdoch's widow is fighting for 900,000 dollars in compensation.