Surgeon and lawyer awaiting evidence
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
February 24, 2016
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/022416_PS_Dr_Ted
At his second appearance Tuesday in McCracken District Court, a local orthopedic surgeon asked the judge for more time to sort through the evidence before proceeding.
Dr. Ted Jefferson was arrested Jan. 27 and charged with third-degree terroristic threatening and second-degree disorderly conduct after an alleged outburst involving gun-related comments in an operating room at Baptist Health Paducah.
In court, Jefferson's attorney Bard Brian told District Judge Tony Kitchen he was still waiting to receive some evidence, including body camera footage recorded by Paducah police officers on Jan. 26, the day of the incident, and Jan. 27, when Jefferson was arrested.
"We don't have all of the discovery from the Commonwealth yet," Brian said after the proceeding. "The Commonwealth has to provide all the evidence in their possession, and that means what's in the possession of the police as well. And that's not saying anything is wrong, we're just waiting for everything to get processed through."
Kitchen granted the continuance, setting the next court date for March 8.
At their next appearance, Brian said, they would either be ready to set a trial date or settle the matter. However, he added, his client will not agree to any settlement that requires a guilty plea.
"We want a favorable outcome, whether that means we go to a jury trial and get a favorable outcome there or there's an acceptable settlement reached beforehand," he said. "But as far as (Jefferson) pleading guilty, that's not on the horizon."
The day Jefferson was arrested, body camera footage collected by police officers shows Jefferson explaining why he had gotten so upset. Jefferson alleged he was given contaminated instruments during surgery, stating there were still bone cement and bone fragments from a previous patient on the utensils.
Following Tuesday's proceeding, Brian said he is still waiting for Baptist to answer his client's claim.
"What I'd like to know is how many times this has happened overall," Brian said. "(Baptist) has that data, but we still don't know this. This was the first time that Dr. Jefferson had run up against this, but it happened to him three times out of five surgeries. So that's why he got upset."
Brian also said he has a photo of one of the total-knee replacement kits given to Jefferson on the day of the incident. The photo shows various instruments that were to be used during surgery.
"This is one of the trays that was certified by Baptist Health to be ready to put into another person's body," Brian said of the photo. "That day Dr. Ted had two total knees set that morning and this was one of the trays that was presented. Obviously, that tray is not ready to go. That's a visibly corrupt tray."
Brian pointed out one of the instruments in the photo that was partially coated in a white substance, which he indicated was the bone cement his client was upset about.
"And there is no way to tell what's underneath that (bone cement) or infused in it," Brian added. "What you have to understand is this has been placed in a person's body to make the total knee replacement. Therefore, there's blood, probably flesh and maybe even bone that could be embedded in that bone cement. So that is a risk, and there's no question that that is not up to standard."
Baptist Health Paducah has repeatedly disputed Jefferson's claim, stating on Feb. 9 that investigators from the Office of the Inspector General, Division of Health Care, determined the complaint to be "unsubstantiated."
The hospital issued another statement Tuesday that said:
"Our first priority is the safety of our staff, patients and the community we serve; and, in this place of healing, we believe there is no justification to threaten harm. As part of our routine process, before patients ever enter the operating room, our staff takes multiple steps to sterilize and inspect surgical instruments. On Jan. 26, our processes worked, and no patient was in an operating room with unsterile instruments."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
Dr. Ted Jefferson was arrested Jan. 27 and charged with third-degree terroristic threatening and second-degree disorderly conduct after an alleged outburst involving gun-related comments in an operating room at Baptist Health Paducah.
In court, Jefferson's attorney Bard Brian told District Judge Tony Kitchen he was still waiting to receive some evidence, including body camera footage recorded by Paducah police officers on Jan. 26, the day of the incident, and Jan. 27, when Jefferson was arrested.
"We don't have all of the discovery from the Commonwealth yet," Brian said after the proceeding. "The Commonwealth has to provide all the evidence in their possession, and that means what's in the possession of the police as well. And that's not saying anything is wrong, we're just waiting for everything to get processed through."
Kitchen granted the continuance, setting the next court date for March 8.
At their next appearance, Brian said, they would either be ready to set a trial date or settle the matter. However, he added, his client will not agree to any settlement that requires a guilty plea.
"We want a favorable outcome, whether that means we go to a jury trial and get a favorable outcome there or there's an acceptable settlement reached beforehand," he said. "But as far as (Jefferson) pleading guilty, that's not on the horizon."
The day Jefferson was arrested, body camera footage collected by police officers shows Jefferson explaining why he had gotten so upset. Jefferson alleged he was given contaminated instruments during surgery, stating there were still bone cement and bone fragments from a previous patient on the utensils.
Following Tuesday's proceeding, Brian said he is still waiting for Baptist to answer his client's claim.
"What I'd like to know is how many times this has happened overall," Brian said. "(Baptist) has that data, but we still don't know this. This was the first time that Dr. Jefferson had run up against this, but it happened to him three times out of five surgeries. So that's why he got upset."
Brian also said he has a photo of one of the total-knee replacement kits given to Jefferson on the day of the incident. The photo shows various instruments that were to be used during surgery.
"This is one of the trays that was certified by Baptist Health to be ready to put into another person's body," Brian said of the photo. "That day Dr. Ted had two total knees set that morning and this was one of the trays that was presented. Obviously, that tray is not ready to go. That's a visibly corrupt tray."
Brian pointed out one of the instruments in the photo that was partially coated in a white substance, which he indicated was the bone cement his client was upset about.
"And there is no way to tell what's underneath that (bone cement) or infused in it," Brian added. "What you have to understand is this has been placed in a person's body to make the total knee replacement. Therefore, there's blood, probably flesh and maybe even bone that could be embedded in that bone cement. So that is a risk, and there's no question that that is not up to standard."
Baptist Health Paducah has repeatedly disputed Jefferson's claim, stating on Feb. 9 that investigators from the Office of the Inspector General, Division of Health Care, determined the complaint to be "unsubstantiated."
The hospital issued another statement Tuesday that said:
"Our first priority is the safety of our staff, patients and the community we serve; and, in this place of healing, we believe there is no justification to threaten harm. As part of our routine process, before patients ever enter the operating room, our staff takes multiple steps to sterilize and inspect surgical instruments. On Jan. 26, our processes worked, and no patient was in an operating room with unsterile instruments."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
