Florida accuses doctor of malpractice in patient’s death

MIAMI (AP) — The Florida Department of Health is accusing a Miami anesthesiologist of medical malpractice in the case of a 57-year-old patient who died after he wasn’t properly ventilated following a heart surgery.

The Miami Herald reports the agency filed an administrative complaint against Dr. John Sciarra. The physician has not faced any previous disciplinary actions. Sciarra said he could not comment on the administrative complaint when reached out by the newspaper.

The patient was having a coronary artery bypass graft at Jackson Memorial Hospital on Jan. 18, 2018 and, according to the complaint, the procedure “was performed without complications.”

When the patient went from the operating room table to his bed, the ventilation machine was disconnected from the circuit. The complaint says the “anesthesiologist was responsible for ensuring that the patient was properly ventilated following the procedure.”

The man was not well ventilated for a total of two to nine minutes and suffered a severe bradycardia, which is a slowed heart rate, followed by a cardiac arrest. Despite undergoing CPR and being placed on a pump, he was taken to the ICU where he was diagnosed brain dead.