The state of New Jersey fined internist Jaroslaw Pondo, MD, a civil penalty of $3,500, and ordered coursework in medical ethics and record keeping to settle allegations he falsified medical records after waking up from a nap and finding his patient had died, according to a report from NJ.com.
When a patient of Dr. Pondo's was found unresponsive and taken to a local hospital, the internist asked for his patient to be transferred to Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center, where he worked at the time, according to the report. After hearing the transfer was successful, Dr. Pondo set his phone alarm to take a short nap before going in to see the patient. But he slept through the alarm, which had been mistakenly set to vibrate, and a couple of phone calls, according to the report.
When he awoke, he found the patient had died. He logged on remotely to the hospital's EHR and reported in detail the results of an examination of the patient. He later logged the patient death, according to the report.
Following the incident, Dr. Pondo was discharged from HackensackUMC medical staff, according to the report.
Read the full story here.
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