# Anesthesiologist Charged In Strangulation Of Nurse



## Leeda.the.Paladin (Nov 11, 2018)

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)– A veteran Colorado anesthesiologist has been charged with felony assault after witnesses say he nearly choked a nurse into unconsciousness in the recovery room at Sky Ridge Medical Center.








Dr. Mark Randle Ryan, 56, told CBS4 he has retired as a physician following the Oct. 8 incident.

”I think it will be easy to show there was no intent involved,” he told CBS4.







According to a police report and witnesses, Ryan, who worked for an outside anesthesiology group and was not a hospital employee, was making rounds in the recovery room and was turning off vital sign machines in patient bays due to their constant beeping.

Ryan told CBS4 he was turning off the machines due to “alarm fatigue” which he said was “significantly dangerous.”







He said nurses are subject to hundreds of false alarms every shift and “after a while, they just don’t hear them.”

Nurse Beth Duche noticed what the doctor was doing and had told him “to not turn off the machines.”

She told police after the monitors are turned off, it can take three to five minutes to turn them back on. She told investigators that Ryan continued to turn off the monitors and she again asked him to stop.







She said, “Dr. Ryan grabbed her by the throat and squeezed Duche’s neck with enough force to where she lost her function to breathe normally… she was seeing stars.”

The nurse went on to tell Lone Tree police investigators, “She was in shock and thought Ryan was going to kill her.”

Another nurse who witnessed the event told investigators she saw, “Ryan with his hands around Duche’s neck and throat and squeezing very violently.”







She stated that Duche’s body was shaking and that her feet were “dancing.”

Linda Watson, a Sky Ridge Medical Center spokesperson, said Ryan was escorted off the property after the incident and his privileges to practice at the hospital were immediately suspended.

She said, “We had no prior information about incidences with this physician at Sky Ridge prior to this happening.”







According to police, Dr. Ryan has no previous criminal record. State records show no previous discipline against his medical license.

Lone Tree police say Ryan told them,”I just didn’t mean to hurt her.”

Asked why he retired, Ryan told CBS4, “I was ready. I am ready.”

He reiterated multiple times that the strangling of Nurse Duche involved “no intent.”
Ryan is due to appear in Douglas County court next Friday.


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## Theresamonet (Nov 11, 2018)

He must have been high on something.


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## lavaflow99 (Nov 11, 2018)

High on drugs (a known problem among anesthesiology) or he reached his breaking point and snapped from burn out.  Good riddance.


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## nysister (Nov 11, 2018)

lavaflow99 said:


> High on drugs (a known problem among anesthesiology) or he reached his breaking point and snapped from burn out.  Good riddance.



Do they have more ready access to drugs? If so would that be why?

That was awful. I hope she gets a payout. She was trying to protect the patients and in no way deserved that.


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## lavaflow99 (Nov 11, 2018)

nysister said:


> *Do they have more ready access to drugs*? If so would that be why?
> 
> That was awful. I hope she gets a payout. She was trying to protect the patients and in no way deserved that.



Yes ma'am they do.  They are the only physicians I know that have access to the med dispenser system and administer drugs to patients.  If I (as a pediatrician) want a patient to get a medication, I have to let a nurse know and the nurse does the administration.

They need the easy access because if they are in a case (ie surgery), they need to be able to administer various medications (and it is usually hard core medications ie Fentanyl) quickly to their patient.


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## janaq2003 (Nov 11, 2018)

I had one act crazy with me in the OR once. I wasnt scared or anuthing but you knownI had to play the role... Reported him and he was under suspicion of diverting


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## OhTall1 (Nov 11, 2018)

Leeda.the.Paladin said:


> Linda Watson, a Sky Ridge Medical Center spokesperson, said Ryan was* escorted off the property *after the incident and his privileges to practice at the hospital were immediately suspended.


Sorry, why wasn't he arrested in October?


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## nysister (Nov 11, 2018)

Interesting, thanks! I'd never realized that before. (Bolded)

Ah okay, that easy access I guess can be hard to resist if someone has a problem already.

I hope he goes on to do something else useful. It's a shame to have that knowledge go to waste, but he definitely needs a change.




lavaflow99 said:


> Yes ma'am they do.  They are the only physicians I know that have access to the med dispenser system and administer drugs to patients. * If I want a patient to get a medication, I have to let a nurse know and the nurse does the administration.*
> 
> They need the easy access because if they are in a case (ie surgery), they need to be able to administer various medications (and it is usually hard core medications ie Fentanyl) quickly to their patient.


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## nysister (Nov 11, 2018)

janaq2003 said:


> I had one act crazy with me in the OR once. I wasnt scared or anuthing but you knownI had to play the role... Reported him and he was under suspicion of diverting



Diverting?

What would that be referring to?


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## bajandoc86 (Nov 11, 2018)

nysister said:


> Diverting?
> 
> What would that be referring to?



Diverting medication to himself.


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## Shula (Nov 11, 2018)

nysister said:


> Diverting?



My dear sweet innocent sis, . Consider them the "crackheads" of the hospital, lol. No offense to all my very professional medical sisters in here but I've been reading about their shenanigans in getting high and suicide rates for ages, it seems. Worst case I can remember is one sitting at the head of the patient during surgery while monitoring and siphoning off (diverting drugs) and injecting somewhere in his ankle area in the midst of a serious surgery. We've been blessed to have wonderful anesthesiologists throughout our extensive medical issues but I promise you that quite a few are masquerading as sober, upstanding professionals when they are actually this when you look close enough:






Just like that blond dermatologist doctor lady that overdosed in a trap house or wherever they found her. We got one more doc I need to "fire" from my kid's team; I've only put it off because I want to do it face to face. I can't wait. Every time I see him, it brings back hood memories and he ain't even black, lol.

And please try to choke me out so I can get paid.


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## nysister (Nov 11, 2018)

Oh my!!! This has been an educational thread! Thanks ladies.


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## cinnespice (Nov 12, 2018)

I don't understand how he was not arrested.
@Shula your right but that goes for some nurses too. 
They like to divert medication, I have heard to many stories.
Let somebody like that touch me....he, the hospital and all subsidiaries he works for would have been sued. 
I know this is not the same but i used to work in patient relations and a mentally unstable patient threw coffee on my co-worker. She did nothing just cleaned up and kept going . I told her next time so you know.........SCREAM and hit the floor from said pain from the "hot coffee" let them put you out for at least a couple of days for your pain and suffering. When it came to stuff like that i did not play. I was quick to call security if you start acting a fool I never had a patient put their hand on my but, please do so I can not be here for a couple of days.


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## Shula (Nov 12, 2018)

cinnespice said:


> I don't understand how he was not arrested.
> @Shula your right but that goes for some nurses too.
> They like to divert medication, I have heard to many stories.
> Let somebody like that touch me....he, the hospital and all subsidiaries he works for would have been sued.
> I know this is not the same but i used to work in patient relations and a mentally unstable patient threw coffee on my co-worker. She did nothing just cleaned up and kept going . I told her next time so you know.........SCREAM and hit the floor from said pain from the "hot coffee" let them put you out for at least a couple of days for your pain and suffering. When it came to stuff like that i did not play. I was quick to call security if you start acting a fool I never had a patient put their hand on my but, please do so I can not be here for a couple of days.



Yes, the nurses too. Probably the only folks completely on the up and up are the janitors and the lunch ladies. I'm just being silly and I know many take their jobs seriously and do the best they can but I have to say, we run into more that I would rather not have to not deal with these days. It's a stressful gig; I wouldn't want it.


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## sissimpson (Nov 12, 2018)

The doctor was escorted off the premises?


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## Farida (Nov 12, 2018)

sissimpson said:


> The doctor was escorted off the premises?


Right. Maybe y’all can shed more light on this.

Why weren’t charges filed? Did the hospital know he was using and was afraid if he was charged there would be a bunch of malpractice suits?


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## momi (Nov 13, 2018)

He just snapped!  I would be going to the ortho department for a neck brace, cane, walker and whatever else I could find  and running to file charges so fast.  I'd be making my list of people to sue on my way to the attorneys office.


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## naturalgyrl5199 (Nov 13, 2018)

Can we figure out how one goes from gently turning off machines (and why cause damn you trying to just kill folks?) to just straight strangulin' folk until they bout black out?
How does this happen?
Why wasn't he arrested immediately?
So many questions.

Hope the nurse gets a nice settlement check and a year off work....PAID. That would literally be part of my settlement and arrangements to work at another hospital and/or at the same hospital with a promotion.


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## Reinventing21 (Nov 14, 2018)

He may need a neurological exam. Not trying to excuse him at all, but when someone has never done anything violent (not saying that is the case here), and then does something so weird and violent, there may be a neurological issue.


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## Foxglove (Nov 15, 2018)

Shula said:


> And please try to choke me out so I can get paid.



Ok this with your avi is too much


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## gn1g (Nov 15, 2018)

oh my, what-an-eye-opener!


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## gn1g (Nov 15, 2018)

Anesthesiologist salary usually *start* at 300K/yr


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## 1QTPie (Nov 16, 2018)

Is alarm fatigue an actual thing?


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## Leeda.the.Paladin (Nov 16, 2018)

1QTPie said:


> Is alarm fatigue an actual thing?


Yes. I’ve experienced it, but there are other ways to handle it besides just cutting the monitor off.


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## Jmartjrmd (Nov 20, 2018)

1QTPie said:


> Is alarm fatigue an actual thing?


Yes as stated above.  It's a big patient safety concern.  It's really bad in Nicu.   Places that had central monitoring were the worst.  Last place I worked they removed the function that allowed you to silence the alarms from the desk.  Folks still didnt get up to check.


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## ThirdEyeBeauty (Nov 20, 2018)

sissimpson said:


> The doctor was escorted off the premises?


Would a black doctor get escorted off the premises for the same exact offense?


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## Angel1881 (Nov 20, 2018)

ThirdEyeBeauty said:


> Would a black doctor get escorted off the premises for the same exact offense?



I'm sure of it.


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## felic1 (Jan 8, 2019)

A lowly nurse told a doctor to stop and that he could not do something. He went off on her and proceeded to choke her for opening her mouth to him like that. He was really arrogant.


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## sissimpson (Jan 21, 2019)

1QTPie said:


> Is alarm fatigue an actual thing?


yes


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## weaveadiva (Jan 27, 2019)

HOW DO YOU STRANGLE SOMEONE WITH NO ILL INTENT

wdfjklhbfcds Ugh! Just reading that pisses me off


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