Dean Lorich Fierceness
Less calm was Dean Lorich, M.D., associate director of the Orthopedic Trauma Service at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and director of the Orthopedic Trauma Service at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Lorich passed away on December 10, 2017 at the age of 54.
Lorich was a fierce surgeon warrior who was the first to run to disaster when people needed a surgeon. As we reported in the 2010 story called, “Cry, The Beloved Surgeon,” Lorich led a team from HSS who immediately flew to aid the victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti before government relief efforts could be organized.
When he returned, shaken by what he found, he sharply criticized the severe inadequacies on the part of the U.S. government and non-governmental organizations. His criticism sparked great debate about how the government would respond to future catastrophes.
David Helfet, M.D., Chief Emeritus of the Orthopedic Trauma Service at HSS, said Lorich was a, “superb, well-respected surgeon, teacher, colleague and friend to me and the entire Hospital for Special Surgery and NewYork-Presbyterian community. It is truly a great loss—throughout his 18-year career he impacted the lives of thousands of patients both near and far.”
The Shamed
Sadly, not all stories chosen by readers were about heroic or outstanding surgeons.
There were also those who cheated, harmed and violated their Hippocratic Oath to their patients and colleagues.
In April, a federal grand jury in Florida convicted Johnny Clyde Benjamin, M.D., for the 2016 fentanyl overdose death of a patient. The jury said Benjamin was guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute the fentanyl. He was also convicted of four other drug-related charges linked to Crowley’s death.
In July, Benjamin was given a life sentence.
In one bizarre episode of this “Breaking Bad” case, Benjamin tried to board a plane to Philadelphia carrying thousands of counterfeit pills supplied by a DEA informant for $16,000.
He arrived at the Orlando Melbourne International Airport wearing his scrubs and carrying thousands of blue pills in his carry-on bag. Airport police confiscated the pills and Benjamin returned with a prescription written that day to retrieve what he called his “cancer medication.”
His lawyer said he planned to file an appeal.
Readers also continued to follow the ongoing efforts to bring spine surgeon Atiq Durrani, M.D. to justice.
Last December we reported that the Pakistani hospital where Durrani had fled after facing allegations of medical malpractice and False Claims in Ohio, had suspended his license.
Durrani was arrested in Ohio in 2013 after being indicted on 46 federal charges, including performing unnecessary surgeries. Other allegations claimed that Durrani had another surgeon operate in his name, allowed other employees to write Oxycodone prescriptions on orders he pre-signed, knowingly left a guide wire inside a patient during surgery without giving them notice, and billing private and public healthcare benefits programs for fraudulent services.
In June 2015, we reported that we found him. In Lahore, Pakistan, where he had set up his own spine surgery clinic and joined the hospital staff of Doctors Hospital and Medical Centre.
We repeatedly asked the hospital for comment about the allegations against Durrani that he had started a high-profile practice at the hospital. Our requests went unanswered.
In September, a reader claiming to be a nurse at the hospital left us a reader comment saying that he is still secretly working in the hospital.
Then on December 12, a Pakistani website, thenews.com, reported that Pakistani regulators have put Doctors Hospital on notice to explain why Durrani has been practicing there when his license is suspended. The hospital has reportedly not responded.
