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November 29, 2007

R.I. Hospital's chief of neurosurgery steps aside

Dr. John A. Duncan III has voluntarily stepped aside as chief of neurosurgery at Rhode Island Hospital, and Dr. Curtis E. Doberstein is serving as interim chief.

Hospital spokeswoman Gail Carvelli said that Duncan retains full privileges to practice at Rhode Island Hospital, and the arrangement is temporary. No decisions have been made on who will be the permanent chief, she said.

Duncan decided to step aside on Saturday, the day after a neurosurgery resident started to operate on the wrong side of a patient’s head, according to the hospital. The resident had broken the skin but realized the error before reaching the skull. Because two previous incidents of wrong-site neurosurgery had occurred this year at Rhode Island Hospital, the Health Department on Monday reprimanded the hospital and fined it $50,000.

The Health Department had no role in Duncan’s move on Saturday. But in 2003, the department had found Duncan responsible for a December 2001 incident in which neurosurgery residents operated on the wrong side of a patient's head after a CT scan was placed backward on the viewing screen. Duncan was ordered to study and make recommendations on preventing medical errors.

-- Journal staff writer Felice Freyer

Posted by Jack Perry  at 2:57 PM | Permalink

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