Fire during brain surgery leads to lawsuit against UMC

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Family of former UA journalism professor Wallace Beene, pictured in his office, filed suit against University Medical Center after a burn accident during a July brain surgery. A UMC team is still investigating the incident.

The suit alleges that Beene, 73, "sustained severe, permanent, debilitating and life-threatening burn injuries and other injuries as a direct result of the negligence and carelessness of University Medical Center Corporation and its employees."

The medical malpractice complaint, filed in Pima County Superior Court, claims UMC operating room personnel "caused and contributed" to the fire during surgery on July 23.

Beene, his wife and two children are seeking unspecified compensation for medical expenses, as well as Beene's "severe pain, discomfort and scarring as a result of the burn injuries."

Beene, still in UMC's intensive care unit in serious condition, was having two subdural hematomas - swollen areas under the outer lining of the brain - repaired when a fire broke out in the operating room.

In a statement released shortly after the accident, UMC officials stated that "a popping sound was heard and a flash fire was discovered coming from under the drapes covering the patient. The health care team reacted immediately by extinguishing the fire."

Although a UMC team is still investigating the incident, UMC officials say the fire may have been ignited by a standard electric cauterizing device used to seal bleeding wounds.

"It was really not a great surprise that the suit was filed," said UMC spokesman George Humphrey.

Beene's attorneys have been building a highly publicized case against the hospital since the incident occurred. UMC has been a separate entity from the University of Arizona with its own administration since 1982.

"This case is unusual in that there's been so much reporting prior to the suit," Humphrey said.

After making headlines in July, the case generated further publicity in early August when Beene's lawyers filed a motion to preserve hospital records and other possible evidence pertaining to the fire. Pima County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Brown granted the motion.

At that time, Steven Copple, one of Beene's attorneys, said "the document filed was not a lawsuit - not yet."

Humphrey said he does not know if the team's findings will have any effect on the case's outcome.

"Since we haven't been served (with court papers), and since it is now officially a lawsuit, I think we're going to be a bit guarded about what we say," he said.

Dr. Steven Barker, the hospital's operating room director and chief of anesthesiology who is leading the investigation, was out of town and could not be reached yesterday.

Richard Grand, Beene's other attorney, indicated that the case would not be settled out of court, no matter what the UMC team concludes.

"I won't make any decisions," Grand said. "The jury will make the decisions."

Another patient, Marvin Weitzel, 54, filed a malpractice suit against UMC last month in connection with an Aug. 4 surgery to have a growth removed from his lung. Weitzel is also represented by Copple and Grand.

The lawsuit alleges that Weitzel's surgeon suffered a shock from a malfunctioning cauterizing device, which brushed against Weitzel's leg and caused a small burn.

UMC officials disputed that lawsuit's claims.

While operating room fires are rare, there have been other recent cases.

In a 1988 fire at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a 19-day-old boy died when sparks from a cauterizing device ignited oxygen that accumulated beneath a sheet used to cover him during surgery, and in 1990, a fire at UCLA Medical Center killed a 26-year-old woman after the surgical drape around her caught fire.

Yesterday, Grand said Beene was still in intensive care and on a ventilator but was able to speak.

Longtime friend and former UA journalism professor Clarence Lucas said the World War II veteran and former Vietnam war correspondent is slowly improving.

"He's getting a little bit better, but I don't anticipate he'll be well again for quite some time," Lucas said.

The two newspapermen met in the mid-1950s when they both worked for Stars and Stripes in Germany.

Lucas said he and Beene used to play golf together once a week, their last game just two days before the accident.

"He only played nine holes that day," Lucas said. "He wasn't feeling all that great."