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An Oregon man’s face caught fire while he was awake and conscious during surgery, according to a $900,000 lawsuit the man’s family filed against Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). The patient, John Michael Murdoch, has since died from cancer.
According to The Oregonian, Murdoch’s 2022 surgery was to perform a tracheostomy to create a hole for a breathing tube in Murdoch’s throat. Murdoch was undergoing treatment for cancer of the tongue at that time. Murdoch, then 51, succumbed to the cancer about six months after the botched procedure. The lawsuit says Murdoch lived with disfiguring scars and wounds that never healed because of the fire, and Murdoch’s wife said he remembered the traumatic experience until his death.
Allegedly, a combination of rubbing alcohol and a spark caused the flame
Isopropyl alcohol was sprayed on Murdoch’s face before the tracheostomy to sterilize the area as standard procedure. The lawsuit Toni Murdoch, John Michael’s wife, filed, however, says the alcohol was not given sufficient time to dry, and a flame ignited on Murdoch’s face when a tool used in the surgery caused a spark.
Murdoch’s lawsuit alleges that the tool used in the procedure was known to spark and shouldn’t have been used. And, according to litigation, the oxygen, alcohol, and the spark created a “fire triangle,” or the perfect conditions for the flame. “It never should have happened,” the Murdoch family lawyer Ron Cheng said.
As shocking and strange as the Murdoch case may seem, the American College of Surgeons says operating rooms have the perfect conditions for fire, with oxygen, fuel, and ignition sources contributing factors. The Emergency Care Research Institute says as many as 100 surgical fires happen each year.
According to the NIH, “Surgical fires are a rare but serious preventable safety risk in modern hospitals. Data from the US show that up to 650 surgical fires occur each year, with up to 5% causing death or serious harm,” and studies have been conducted on whether the use of “spirit-based surgical skin preparation fluid” — such as isopropyl alcohol — should be reduced because of fire risk.
In November last year, Reuters reported that surgical fire cases such as the Murdoch suit are easier to prove than other types of medical malpractice because the fire itself could destroy proof that the healthcare providers were guilty of “breach of care,” or that the fire itself sufficiently proves negligence on its own.
Also last year, Jennifer Conroy, MSN, RN-BSN, CNOR, recalled her experience with a surgical fire, writing for the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN). Details of Conroy’s case are similar to what Murdoch’s family describes in their lawsuit. Recalling the accident, Conroy wrote, “Waiting 3 minutes for the prep to dry would have all but eliminated the vapors from the alcohol in the solution and the area would not have been as flammable.”
According to The Oregonian, OHSU and Dr. Adam Howard, the physician listed in the Murdoch family lawsuit, both declined to comment for privacy reasons. Multiple reports say Howard’s medical license in Oregon expired in January 2024. OHSU still lists Howard as an instructor, but he is also listed as an instructor at a West Virginia university where his license to practice medicine is up to date. An undisclosed number of surgical staff are also named in the Murdoch family litigation.