BALTIMORE _ A Johns Hopkins nurse has filed a lawsuit against a doctor who he said sprayed bodily fluid from a patient on him while he was assisting with a surgery.
Benjamin Waldbaum said he was traumatized when Dr. Martin Slodzinski unscrewed the syringe from the patient's IV and sprayed the contaminated fluid, which landed on his face and part of his torso, according to the lawsuit filed last week in Baltimore City Circuit Court.
Waldbaum said the doctor, an anesthesiologist, squirted the liquid after he told him to stop making inappropriate comments to the patient, who was a recovering heroin addict.
"I want you to know what it feels like to be high," Waldbaum accuses Slodzinski of saying in court documents.
"I am going to get you high with this freebie," Waldbaum also claims the doctor said.
Slodzinski could not be reached for comment.
The Johns Hopkins Health System Corp. and the Johns Hopkins University are also named as defendants in the case.
"We take these allegations very seriously and cannot comment on ongoing litigation," Kim Hoppe, a Johns Hopkins spokeswoman, said in a statement.
An attorney for Waldbaum said his client is concerned about getting an infection or disease from the fluid. He continues to suffer from emotional distress, according to the lawsuit.
"He is horrified about what happened," said attorney Ari S. Casper. "In the health care field, they take extensive precautions to avoid needle sticks and exposure to blood borne pathogens."
Slodzinski is the compliance officer for the department of anesthesiology so he should have known the risks when he deliberately sprayed the fluid, Casper said.
The lawsuit said that Slodzinski is still working for the health system and that the doctor had a history of "abusive and improper" behavior. Waldbaum said the doctor has thrown patient IVs, hurried through procedures and screamed at subordinates.
"I don't think that Hopkins is treating this with the severity that it warrants," Casper said.
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