Medical Nightmare: Cancer Patient Literally Catches on Fire in Middle of Surgery and Is Awake for It All
The face of a man undergoing surgery related to his tongue cancer caught fire two years ago, disfiguring his face in the final months of his life, according to a new lawsuit seeking $900,000 in damages.
John Michael Murdoch, who was 51 years old, underwent a tracheostomy in December 2022 at Oregon Health and Science University to create a breathing hole in his neck after he was diagnosed with a tongue cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma, according to The Oregonian.
But a spark from a surgical tool landed on his skin, igniting the alcohol swabbed onto his face while he was still “awake and conscious,” per a lawsuit filed last month by attorney Ron Cheng.
“This is a ‘never’ event — it never should have happened,” Cheng told The Oregonian.
Murdoch had the scars for the final six months of his life.
He was unable to speak clearly but was able to tell his wife, Toni Murdoch, about the severity of his trauma, according to Cheng.
He died in June 2023 at 52 years old from his cancer.
The lawsuit contended that the surgical tool which sparked during the procedure had a history of sending off sparks, while the fire was lit by a combination of oxygen and unevaporated isopropyl alcohol.
Cheng listed Dr. Adam Howard as a defendant, along with surgical staff involved in the operation.
The Oregonian said, records from the Oregon Medical Board indicate that Howard became licensed to practice medicine in Oregon earlier in 2022.
About one year after the surgery, his medical license was switched to “lapsed” status.
Howard is now licensed in West Virginia, where he appears to work for a university.
There are an estimated 90 to 100 surgical fires every year in the United States, according to data from the Emergency Care Research Institute shared by the American College of Surgeons.
“It is critically important that surgical teams become vigilant in preventing surgical fires in order to keep everyone safe,” the American College of Surgeons recommended.
“The operating theater has the perfect conditions for fire: ignition sources, oxygen, and fuel.”
About 70 percent of surgical fires are indeed caused by sparks or heat from electrosurgical tools, while alcohol-based skin preparations “are common fuel sources during surgical fires when not allowed to completely evaporate.”
In other cases, fires can start as a result of “surgical drapes, sponges, towels, gauze, methane in bowel gas, and the patient’s body hair.”
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