Judge dismisses doctor’s discrimination lawsuit

David Kihara

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | 9:29 a.m.

A discrimination lawsuit brought by an anesthesiologist who accused Sunrise Hospital of suspending him because of his race was dismissed by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Lloyd George dismissed the civil suit brought against the hospital by Dr. Godwin Maduka because the anesthesiologist did not offer evidence proving that he was discriminated against, according to the decision which was filed on Monday.

Maduka, who is black, filed the suit in 2000 claiming that Sunrise discriminated against him because of his race and damaged his reputation and status at Sunrise and other area hospitals when it suspended him.

Maduka was suspended after problems arose during two surgeries at the hospital in which he served as anesthesiologist.

He stated that he was not allowed to cross-examine two nurses who made allegations against him during the Medical Center Fair Hearing Committee, and that nonblacks who were in similar situations were allowed to do so.

George, however, found that the suit didn't provide enough evidence proving that the hospital acted incorrectly when it suspended Maduka after a formal review and at least one second chance involving the two surgeries.

Maduka did not return calls seeking comment.

The hospital suspended Maduka in 1999 for allegedly failing to recognize life-threatening problems and inadequate record keeping, among other alleged issues, when he administered anesthesia to two patients, according to the judgment.

On May 4, 1999, Maduka, who had staff privileges at Sunrise hospital, was administering anesthesiology to a patient when the procedure began to prove problematic, according to court documents.

The hospital's Anesthesia Quality Assurance Subcommittee, which investigated the incident, said that "according to those in the room, it was other people, not (Maduka) who noted that the patient's fingers were blue and that the patient's head and face were blue," according to court documents.

Maduka stated in his suit that the 63-year-old patient had a significant cardiac history, and that the patient was sent to the intensive care unit when his fingers and face began to turn blue.

The subcommittee concluded that Maduka's anesthesia care "was substandard" in several ways, including record keeping, identifying problems in a timely way and interacting with operating room nurses and staff, according to the documents.

On May 27, 1999, Sunrise Hospital's Medical Executive Committee unanimously voted that Maduka's next 10 cases would be performed under the direct observation of an active anesthesiologist and the Anesthesiology Department chairman was to review 30 of his cases, the documents stated.

Less than two weeks later, on June 4, another patient who was administered anesthesia by Maduka began to have problems, according to documents.

A nurse informed Maduka that the patient had elevated blood pressure and had a "red to purplish facial color," according to the documents. Maduka, however, was allegedly using the telephone numerous times during surgery and the surgeon asked Maduka to attend to the patient twice, according to documents.

Sunrise suspended Maduka that day, and a few days later the Medical Executive Committee of the hospital voted to continue his summary suspension.

A Fair Hearing Committee later reviewed the case and made the findings that Maduka failed to recognize a life-threatening event in both cases and failed to initiate appropriate and timely "airway management," according to documents.

Maduka, however, claimed in his suit that he "recognized and immediately corrected" the problems in the June 4 incident and the surgical procedure went ahead as planned. He stated that the patient recovered without problems.