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Doctor sued for 'branding' patient's uterus
Dr. Red Alinsod is being sued for engraving his patient's name on her uterus.
A California gynecologist is being sued for branding a patient's name on her uterus using an "electrocautery device."
Dr. Red Alinsod removed Ingrid Paulicivic's uterus during an operation at his Orange County office in 2006, according to the complaint posted on The Smoking Gun's website. The Laguna Beach doctor carved "Ingrid" on the organ, according to the site, because he "did not want to get it confused with others."
Alinsod told the site that labeling of body parts in that manner is not typical. But, he said, he "felt comfortable putting her name on the uterus" since the 47-year-old hairdresser was a "good friend."
Paulicivic's attorney, Devan Mullins, told CNN.com that his client did not know her physician before consulting him for the operation. Paulicivic and her husband learned of the branding during a follow-up visit, the lawyer said.
During that visit, Paulicivic complained to Alinsod about burns to her leg that she suffered during the operation, Mullins told CNN.com. The doctor was looking at images that were taken during the operation, and the couple asked for copies.
"Alinsod hesitated to give them the photos," the attorney said, sparking the couple's suspicion that something was wrong. The doctor told the couple that he didn't know how to copy the images, so the husband, who is a photographer, showed Alinsod how to move the images to a memory card, and the couple took them, Mullins said.
Later in the husband's office, the couple looked at the photos and were shocked to see "Ingrid" spelled out in inch-high letters on her uterus.
"They reacted like anyone would react - 'Oh my God, I cannot believe this happened,' " the lawyer said.
The couple hired Mullins, who tried for 90 days to notify Alinsod of an impending complaint, but the doctor did not react. "That's what's been odd - that we've gotten no response from him whatsoever," Mullins said.
CNN.com spoke with Alinsod's office manager Tuesday, who said that the physician was seeing patients and that he would not comment on the litigation.
According to Alinsod's website, he formerly headed gynecologic services at George Air Force Base in California and Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. He was affectionately called a "Combat Gynecologist" by his colleagues, it says.
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what a dope, just move on and get over it. it's over
If it was still attached to her then it was patient abuse, if it was already removed then it is morbid but not illegal.
Hillarious
I am appalled by this. Can I sue corn companies now for their product making an unwanted appearance in my stool? What an idiot this woman. If he wrote something like " (Doctors name) wuz here" LOL or something like that i'd be pretty annoyed but who the heck cares? I hope she gets counter sued for attempting to defame the mans good name!
Umm, once it was removed, it was no longer hers. Labeling it to identify it is not wrong, unusual but not wrong. Its out. Get on with your life.
Hillarious, Yeah they all look the same. Lol
the plaintiffs found a willing attorney alright to represent their silly claim, someone who files lawsuits that are truly unmeritorious. see: http://www.outsports.com/legal/legalstory.htm
You have your attorneys mixed up.
i stand corrected.
You don't have your uterus removed the heck of it. There was obviously something severely medically wrong with this woman. Having just had this procedure most certainly causes a change in hormones, feelings and possibly even depression. Hell, we don't know if the husband felt somehow that his wife was now "not a complete woman" or couldn't deal with the emotional changes his wife would obviously be going through.
Why is this important? Sounds to me like remorse.
This is exactly why our medical costs in this country are our of control.
What a stupid thing to argue over. Yes, the doctor shouldn't have done it as anything done during a surgery is a risk. However, she wasn't harmed. There shouldn't be a lawsuit allowed over this stupid incident. In fact, I wonder why it even received coverage by CNN?
Maybe she wouldn't have reacted that way if he'd just added an apostrophe and an s to make it Ingrid's??
Naw, her main objection was the font face he used.
Silly, silly thing to sue someone over. Get over it.
interesting, atty mullins represented a relative (i can only assume, same last name) way back in the mid 90s and lost.......maybe he's on a rampage now
http://vlex.com/vid/brenton-neil-mullins-rinker-winkleman-37684420
omg, plaintiff lawyer and defendant went to the same college . . latter prolly was senior when former freshman..... hmmmm
What's up with all the wombats going nuts over this? He removed the uterus, didn't he? It's not like she wanted it for anything afterwards. Stop being hysterical! Or do you need a hysterectomy to cure that?
"..Stop being hysterical! Or do you need a hysterectomy to cure that?.." - good one, I love it !