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The Famous Dr. DeBakey and His Two Controversial Practices

By Edward D. McCarthy
May 01, 2016

Recently, there has been a great deal of press, as well as litigation, involving two things: so-called “overlapping surgery,” and requests by patients to record their encounters with their physicians and with their surgical procedures. Many years ago, in the 1970s, a world-famous cardiac surgeon at Baylor University, Michael DeBakey, at least anecdotally, did both things.

Dr. DeBakey developed, improved and used Dacron Grafts for cardiac surgeries, and was always on the cutting edge of the science. He was known as the “Texas Tornado,” not only because of the incredibly long hours he spent in operating rooms, but for how he went from operating room to operating room doing only the “critical portion” of very complex cardiac procedures. In addition, Dr. DeBakey habitually had a cameraman in the operating room recording these cardiac procedures. His system involved a camera suspended above the operating table, focusing the lens on the procedure. Dr. DeBakey is not alone: In fact, many surgeons film complex procedures, from neurosurgery to general surgical and orthopedic surgical procedures.

How might these two practices ' the employment of overlapping surgery and video recording ' affect physicians, patients and their attorneys when accusations of medical malpractice arise?

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