US Doctor Put On Leave Over Allegations Of Bullying, Improper Removal of Bladder

A leading pathologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital has been put on administrative leave after a misdiagnosis led to removal of a patient's bladder, The Washington Post said. Dr Jonathan Epstein has also been accused of bullying or intimidating other member of the staff. Other doctors have said that he used to pressure them to give second opinions that were in line with diagnoses made by his wife, also a pathologist. The post report is based on what a number of doctors told the outlet on condition of anonymity.

In some instances, Dr Epstein himself gave second opinions that agreed with diagnoses made by his wife. In one of these cases, a man underwent a radical procedure to remove his bladder and later came to know in a post-surgery analysis that there was a different diagnosis, as per Joint Commission, a non-profit organisation that accredits hospitals.

The Joint Commission ordered Johns Hopkins to address concerns among staff "regarding a culture of bullying and intimidation in the surgical pathology department," which it said exposed patients to improper care.

The Post said Dr Epstein was put on administrative leave in May this year.

The doctor told the outlet that he was "profoundly distressed" by the allegations, "as they are the antithesis of everything I stand for and have tried to exhibit in my professional life over these 35 years at Johns Hopkins".

He did not discuss the bladder removal case due to concerns around patient privacy. Dr Epstein, however, said that, in general, medical cases "have many complicating factors".

"Of the 12,000 cases sent to me for my opinion each year from patients, urologists, and pathologists in the United States and overseas, my one goal has been to give patients the most accurate diagnosis possible," he told the outlet.

Dr Epstein joined Hopkins's faculty in 1985 and has developed a bustling consultation practice providing second opinions on pathology reports at the request of patients and other doctors.