Suit: Doc Took Test on Phone During Woman's Surgery

A suburban New York City woman has sued a doctor, claiming he used his cellphone to take a language test while operating on her, per the AP. The Journal News reports 70-year-old Mary Edwards of Port Chester filed a lawsuit Monday in state Supreme Court against Dr. Eric Fishman and his employer, Westmed Medical Group. Fishman performed surgery on Edwards to fix varicose veins twice in 2017. According to the lawsuit, Edwards claims Fishman had a conversation in Spanish on his cellphone during the second outpatient procedure. She says she also heard him mention something into the phone about having diabetes and blurred vision.

Edwards' attorney says his client was terrified for the rest of the operation because she feared those vision issues would somehow mar her procedure. Edwards claims Fishman later explained he was taking a Spanish proficiency test during the surgery (meaning he wasn't really suffering from vision problems). She says he told her he needed to be certified in Spanish due to his many Spanish-speaking patients and that there was no other good time to take the test. The procedure turned out OK, but Edwards says she suffered emotional distress as a result of the incident. She's seeking unspecified monetary damages. A Westmed spokeswoman said the company doesn't comment on pending litigation.

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