Recently, one of our Patients has filed a lawsuit alleging that in February of 2013 she was raped by Dr. Malik while she was a patient at our hospital. Particularly, she claims that Dr. Malik “engaged in conduct that was outrageous and would shock the conscience of a normal individual in that he administered narcotic/sedative/amnesic medications under the false pretense that they were intravenous antibiotics, and committed sexual assault/battery/rape upon the plaintiff.”
It is hard to believe that such thing can happen in our hospital. Personally, I refuse to believe that these allegations will be proven in the Court of Law. However, it was discovered and reported by media that Dr. Malik was also “under indictment in Ashtabula County for two counts of sexual battery and four counts of sexual imposition on patients” and apparently, among the other things, that indictment led to Dr. Malik’s suicide that he committed in July of 2014 at his home.
The lawsuit was brought not only against our hospital, but also against several unidentified hospital employees who were involved in “care and treatment” and failed to intervene and protect the patient.
As nurses, we have legal obligation to intervene and protect our patients. Inaction may cost you your license and may lead to criminal charges. In such situations, depending on circumstances, nurses have the following options:
- Question doctor’s actions, refuse to administer medications ordered under false pretenses.
- Activate emergency response at patient’s bedside.
- Call Security.
- Report the incident per hospital policy.
- Submit anonymous ERS report through this website.
- Thoroughly document the event including your actions.
- Seek guidance from Union Leadership.
- And if you have any questions, concerned about retaliation or unsure what to do, let us know immediately so we could protect you and ensure the safety of our patients.
It can be intimidating to question doctor’s actions even when they are clearly harmful to the patient, but remember, you are a member of powerful organization, and we’ve got your back!
I hope that this did not happen at our hospital, but thank you for giving some great advice on here in case we see something like this happening.
Great article !