Pa. Hospital Patient Suffering Third-Degree Burns In Operating Room Fire

A Lycoming County, Pa., man burned in a fire while undergoing surgery has sued the hospital, two doctors, a nurse and an anesthesia firm, according to an article on the Penn Live website.

The man was burned in October of 2019, while undergoing surgery at UPMC Susquehanna’s Williamsport Regional Medical Center for the removal basal cell carcinomas.

The suit said oxygen used during the basal cell extraction of a right temple lesion was ignited by the use of Bovie cautery. 

Evans suffered first- second and third-degree burns to the face, second- or third-degree burns to the left chest wall, blistering on two fingers of the left hand and right eye issues.

Fires are not common but not unheard of in operating rooms. A New York City hospital was cited for its apparent failure to implement an operating room fire prevention plan, according to an article in the Outpatient Surgery website.  Miscommunications between a surgeon and an anesthesiologist was blamed for a flash fire that burned a patient.

Read the full Penn Live article.