Jury Slaps Anesthesiologist With $500,000 Judgment For Mocking Sedated Patient, But The Trouble Doesn’t End There

A jury has ruled against an anesthesiologist who mocked and insulted a man who was under sedation, ordering that the medical practice pay $500,000.

This week, a Fairfax County jury ruled against Tiffany M. Ingham and ordered her practice to pay half of a million dollars to the unnamed patient, who had turned his cell phone’s audio recording device on before a colonoscopy in 2013.

When the man went under sedation, Ingham was heard insulting him and threatening violence.

“After five minutes of talking to you in pre-op,” the anesthesiologist was heard on tape, “I wanted to punch you in the face and man you up a little bit,” she was recorded saying.

Later, when a medical assistant noticed a rash on the man’s arm, the anesthesiologist warned that she might get “some syphilis on [her] arm or something,” then added, “It’s probably tuberculosis in the penis, so you’ll be all right.”

The anesthesiologist was also accused of telling another member of the medical team to falsify the report so they could avoid a post-surgical process.

Now, it appears that the incident has cost anesthesiologist more than just half a million dollars. Ingham’s practice is now listed on Google as “permanently closed,” and it is inundated with angry reviews.

“You are a terrible person, and I hope you’re ashamed of yourself. That poor man. Not only did you verbally brutalize him, but you also insulted gay people, developmentally disabled people, and even hemorrhoid sufferers!,” one person wrote.

“This mean spirited and obviously mentally ill woman should never be allowed to practice medicine. Her attitude toward patients is the worst I’ve ever heard of,” another wrote.

The jury said the case against the anesthesiologist wasn’t very hard to decide, as it was all caught on audio, but said the patient didn’t get as much as he originally wanted. One juror, Farid Kharizada, said they chose a $500,000 award as a compromise from the $1.75 million the man had originally sought.

“We finally came to a conclusion that we have to give him something, just to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Khairzada said.

While the jury may have hit anesthesiologist Tiffany Ingham with a $500,000 judgment, they may not have entirely destroyed her career. One review of her former practice noted that Ingham has moved on to a new position at a hospital, though the Inquisitr could not confirm her new position.

[Image via Getty Images / Joe Raedle]