Joshua Glauser, DO, a physician at Baptist Health Boca Raton (Fla.) Regional Hospital, must pay $20 million to the family of a patient who died while being treated for acute pancreatitis, Palm Beach Post reported Sept. 14.
Dr. Glauser diagnosed patient Joshua Hamby on May 27, 2020, with inflammation of the pancreas and prescribed Dilaudid, an opioid painkiller. He did not know that Mr. Hamby suffered from sleep apnea before prescribing and increasing the doses of the medication.
Additionally, according to the report, he did not monitor his vital signs. Experts testified that part of the standard of care for prescribing that medication included asking patients whether they have any form of sleep apnea, which Dr. Glauser allegedly did not do.
The following day, Mr. Hamby was found unresponsive. He was resuscitated, but brain damage left him in a coma for a week before life support was stopped, and he died June 4.
A jury found Dr. Glauser guilty of medical malpractice and awarded the family $20 million in damages. Dr. Glauser's medical license remains active.