The colonoscopy patient’s anesthesiologist, 42-year-old Tiffany M. Ingham, was recorded as having stated that she wanted to “punch [the patient] in the face and man [him] up a little bit.” She also joked that the people treating him might contract syphilis, and that the patient had “tuberculosis in the penis.”
The patient, who chose to remain anonymous, turned his cell phone’s recorder on before his procedure so he would be sure to have a record of his post-op instructions. The jury awarded him $200,000 for medical malpractice, $200,000 in punitive damages, and $100,000 for defamation—$50,000 each for the comments about him having syphilis and tuberculosis.