Virginia Man accidentally leaves his phone recording during a colonoscopy. Then he heard the doctor while he was unconscious, sues, and wins $500,000

TikTok user KONAH update (@konah619) recently shared an April 2013 incident that happened in Virginia. According to KONAH, a man identified in court documents only as “D.B.,” went to a medical facility in Reston, Virginia, in April 2013 for a routine colonoscopy. Before the procedure, he used his smartphone to record his doctor’s post-operative instructions so he could listen to them later, according to court papers described in news reports.

He said he forgot to stop the recording before he was sedated. The phone kept recording while he was unconscious. On his drive home, he played the file back and said he was shocked by what he heard.

The recording captured anesthesiologist Dr. Tiffany Ingham and other medical staff mocking and insulting him during the procedure, news reports on the lawsuit said. Ingham is heard saying, “After five minutes of talking to you in pre-op, I wanted to punch you in the face and man you up a little bit,” according to NBC Washington.

Fairfax County jury awards $500,000 after the recording is played in court

Ingham, then 42, was also recorded mocking the amount of medicine needed to anesthetize the plaintiff. The station said staff mocked him for taking many medications. One of those medications, gabapentin, had been prescribed to treat an irritation in his genital area, NBC Washington reported.

NBC Washington said a medical assistant touched the man’s genitals and commented that she might have contracted a sexually transmitted infection.

Ingham is recorded saying the assistant might get “some syphilis on your arm or something,” then added, “It’s probably tuberculosis in the penis, so you’ll be all right.”

NBC Washington noted that the genital area is typically not involved in a colonoscopy. Ingham signed a post-operative note indicating the plaintiff had hemorrhoids. According to the lawsuit, she stated she planned to note hemorrhoids even though she found none.

D.B. sued Ingham, her medical practice, Aisthesis, and gastroenterologist Dr. Solomon Shah. Shah was later dismissed from the case. NBC Washington reported that the plaintiff also sued other medical professionals who were released from the case.

The plaintiff claimed he experienced mental anguish, lack of focus, and anxiety after the incident. He said he had to see other healthcare professionals and was placed on anti-anxiety medications.

He sued for defamation, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, violation of Virginia health codes, and medical malpractice. The jury awarded him $500,000: $100,000 for defamation, $200,000 for medical malpractice, and $200,000 in punitive damages.

Viewers discussing the case questioned how a phone could stay in the room at all. One commenter wrote that personal belongings are usually bagged and kept in a safe place during a procedure: “How phones personal belongings are in a bag and kept in safe place during surgery.”

Another commenter pushed back on calling the procedure surgery. They wrote, “Colonoscopy is not surgery.”

Others said phones do end up near the table. One commenter wrote, “under my surgery table.” Another said they kept a phone on them during a similar procedure: “I had my phone on me during my endoscopy.”

A commenter who identified as a theatre nurse said staff often stay quiet even when doctors talk poorly about patients. They wrote, “As a Theatre nurse, we don’t have a voice but the comments from surgeons are at times atrocious.” Such incidents highlight how medical professionals’ unguarded moments can have serious consequences, as in a separate case where a Virginia doctor reached up in her sleep, feeling something burrowing between her lips.

Another commenter described walking into their own colonoscopy and finding the doctor’s phone in use. They wrote, “When I got rolled into my colonoscopy, the doctor was showing the anesthesiologist his vacation pictures. I was more p—-d HIS phone was in the room with me.” These stories highlight how patients sometimes become aware of unexpected things happening around them during medical procedures, such as when a doctor’s guests in a room were overheard discussing him.