Badri v. Huron Hosp.
| Decision Date | 10 February 2010 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 1:08CV1913. |
| Citation | 691 F. Supp.2d 744 |
| Parties | Rafal BADRI, Plaintiff, v. HURON HOSPITAL, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
Marc E. Dann, Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiff.
Lisa M. Barrett, Cleveland Clinic, Beachwood, OH, Steven J. Forbes, Kevin M. Norchi, Norchi, Barrett & Forbes, Cleveland, OH, for Defendants.
Plaintiff Rafal Badri, M.D. (Plaintiff or Dr. Badri) filed the present action against Defendants, Huron Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Health System, Gus Kious, M.D., Philbert Jones, M.D., and Bev Lozar, R.N. (collectively "Defendants"), challenging the revocation of his medical privileges at Huron Hospital.
Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), Defendants seek summary dismissal of all claims in Plaintiff's Amended Complaint. (Doc. No. 66.) The motion is fully briefed and ripe for decision.
The details of Plaintiff's association with Huron Hospital prior to November of 2002 are not in dispute. Dr. Badri graduated from medical school in 1976 in Iraq. (Badri Dep. at 456.) He is a board-certified general surgeon and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. (Doc. No. 8, Am. Compl. ¶ 3.) After completing a general surgical residency at Huron Hospital, Dr. Badri was awarded clinical privileges at Huron in 1987. (Am. Compl. at ¶ 8.) He was eventually posted to the position of Trauma Director. (Id.)
On November 4, 2002, Dr. Badri was involved in an automobile accident. The record shows that, after being rear ended by another driver on the road, Dr. Badri "tailed" the other driver and forced him to pull over. (Doc. No. 74, Deposition of Dr. Rafal Badri at 111-113; Doc. No. 74.) After exiting their vehicles, Dr. Badri claims that the other driver choked him. (Badri Dep. at 120.). For his part in the incident, Dr. Badri was eventually charged with, and convicted of, disorderly conduct. (Doc. No. 71, Reply, Ex. CC.) According to Dr. Badri, the accident and resulting assault left him with severe pain in his neck and neck spasms. (Badri Dep. at 96.)
Following the accident, Dr. Badri also began to experience migraine headaches. (Id. at 158.) To alleviate the pain, Dr. Badri began to self-administer various medications, including steroids and drugs known as triptins. (Doc. No. 66, Ex. O, Report of Dr. Richard Lightbody at 2; Badri Dep. at 246.) Because he wished to "cover his trail" by not leaving evidence that he was taking prescription medication (Badri Dep. at 101-102), Dr. Badri relied on sample medications to which had access through his medical practice. (Id. at 154.) He also "unofficially" sought out medical advice and free samples from friends and colleagues. (Id. at 88, 101-102; Lightbody Report at 2.)
Plaintiff's attempts to self-medicate and control his pain lead to drug abuse. He attributed his overuse of steroids to the development of a condition known as Cushing's Syndrome, which Plaintiff claims resulted in an appearance of puffiness in his face, and left him without energy or the desire to interact with others. (Badri Dep. at 151, 160, 185, 289.) Dr. Badri maintains that he also suffered from bouts of depression and entertained thoughts of suicide. (Badri Dep. 91, 101, 185, 549.)
Dr. Badri was ultimately involved in a series of incidents at Huron Hospital that would serve as the impetus to the revocation of his clinical privileges. On August 13, 2003, Dr. Badri arrived at the GI Laboratory of Huron Hospital, where he was scheduled to perform an endoscopic surgical procedure. Upon his arrival, Dr. Badri was informed that the room in which he was to perform his procedure was not yet available because it was still in use by another physician. (Doc. No. 66, Ex. B, Suster Memorandum dated August 14, 2003.) Expressing his displeasure at the inconvenience, Dr. Badri advised all who were present in the GI lab—including nurses and his own patient—that "they administration only care about the professors teaching physicians and not him." (Id.; Badri Dep. at 400.) While Dr. Badri denies that he raised his voice (Badri Dep. at 403-404), he admits both that he openly criticized the hospital administration (Id. at 400), and that his behavior was inappropriate. (Id. at 450.)
On September 25, 2003, Dr. Badri placed a call to Lori Slusarki, Huron's Coordinator of Medical Staff Services, seeking confidential information about another physician at Huron Hospital. (Doc. No. 66, Ex. D, September 25, 2003 Memorandum of Lori Slusarski; Badri Dep. at 74.) By this phone call, Dr. Badri wished to obtain information to sustain his suspicion that his colleague was abusing drugs. It appears from the record that he wished to use this information against the physician in an unrelated lawsuit. (Badr Dep. at 74, 410, 427-428.) Ms. Slusarski told Dr. Badri that she was unaware of any issues with this particular physician. In a Memorandum memoralizing the call, Ms. Slusarski noted that she was "reluctant" to advise Dr. Badri that his request for another physician's confidential information was inappropriate because she had encountered problems with Dr. Badri in the past "and didn't want to incur his anger again." (Doc. No. 66, Ex. D, Slusarki Memo.)
The following day, Dr. Badri chastised a medical resident who had removed a patient's chart in which he was planning to write. (Doc. No. 66, Ex. F, October 8, 2003 Memo. of Dr. Keyvan Ravakhah; Badri Dep. at 135.) The head of the resident program, Dr. Keyvan Ravakhah, later described Dr. Badri's behavior as "completely out of line for what he considered a simple misunderstanding." (Ex. F.) Dr. Badri admits that he may have yelled during the encounter. (Badri Dep. at 441.) He subsequently spoke with Dr. Ravakhah and offered to apologize to the resident. (Id. at 135.)
On October 16, 2003, Dr. Badri discussed a patient's drug addiction in front of other patients and hospital staff. (Badri Dep. at 135, 428-437; Doc. No. 66, Ex. G, Incident Report.) While Dr. Badri admitted that he had this conversation with the patient in front of the nurses' station, he maintains that the patient followed him out of her hospital room and "hounded him" for narcotics. (Badri Dep. at 433-434.)
By a letter dated November 21, 2003, Dr. Badri was advised that the Medical Executive Committee (MEC) and the Huron Hospital Administration had "received numerous complaints that he had been engaging in disruptive and harassing conduct directed toward Hospital employees, residents and patients." (Doc. No. 66, Ex. H, Letter from Pamela Redden, Chief of Staff, and Beverly Lozar, Chief Operating Officer of Huron Hospital.) According to the letter, the complaints had been forwarded to Huron's Department of Surgery for investigation, and the results of the investigation confirmed that Dr. Badri had engaged in "rude or abusive conduct" toward staff and patients. (Id. at 1.) The letter directed Dr. Badri to sign a Code of Conduct, which set forth the Hospital's expectations for his future interactions with doctors, staff, patients, and visitors. The letter also demanded that Dr. Badri submit to a full psychological examination. Following the examination, he would be expected to participate in any recommended treatment program. Dr. Badri was advised that failure to comply with the terms of the Code would result in the suspension of his clinical privileges. (Id. at 2.)
Dr. Badri did not immediately sign the Code of Conduct. Instead, the following day, Dr. Badri responded in writing to Dr. Redden. (Doc. No. 71, Ex. Y.) In the letter, Dr. Badri complained that he was not being treated fairly, and he accused the MEC members of having a "hidden agenda." (Id.) No mention was made of any disability, and the letter contained no request for a reasonable accommodation.
On December 9, 2003, Dr. Badri's office manager, Debbie Morgan, sent a letter to Dr. Chung, Director of Surgery for Huron. In her letter, Ms. Morgan explained that Dr. Badri's "dramatic personality changes" were the result of Cushing's Syndrome, which related back to the 2002 accident and Dr. Badri's over-use of steroid medication. (Doc. No. 66, Ex. H.) Appended to her letter were medical reports from three of Dr. Badri's treating physicians. (Id.) The letter did not include any request for a reasonable accommodation. To the contrary, Ms. Morgan represented that Dr. Badri was "appropriately dealing with said problem." (Id.) The MEC reviewed Dr. Badri's medical records and found that they were "suggestive of steroid over medication and did not include any psychological information," and concluded that the records did not provide an adequate basis to assess any possible impairment. (Doc. No. 66, Ex. K, Memo from Dr. Chung.)
Dr. Badri's endoscopic privileges were suspended on January 8, 2004, following two reports of negative patient outcomes from endoscopic procedures.1 (Doc. No. 68, Ex. 2.) On January 14, 2004, Ms. Morgan sent a second letter to Dr. Chung, this time challenging the suspension of Dr. Badri's endoscopic privileges. The letter disputed the decision, and urged Dr. Chung to review certain medical literature on complications resulting from endoscopy. Again, no mention was made of a need for any accommodation to assist Dr. Badri in performing his surgical duties.
Following a meeting on February 4, 2004, the MEC announced its decision to indefinitely suspend Dr. Badri's privileges to perform endoscopic procedures. (Doc. No. 66, Ex. L, February 4, 2004 letter from Raja Shekar, Huron Chief of Staff, and Beverly Lozar.) According to the notice received by Dr. Badri, the decision was based upon the recent negative endoscopic patient outcomes and Dr. Badri's failure to sign the Code of Conduct and submit to a psychological evaluation. The letter also advised Dr. Badri of his right to appeal the suspension.
Dr. Badri signed the Code of Conduct on February 6, 2004 (Doc. No. 66, Ex. M), and agreed to submit to a...
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