Hopkins nurse sues physician

Suit alleges doctor sprayed patient’s body fluids on him during operation

A Johns Hopkins nurse has filed a lawsuit against a doctor he said sprayed him with body fluid from a patient 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 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 Slodzinski, an anesthesiologist, squirted the liquid after he told the doctor to stop making inappropriate comments to the patient, a recovering heroin addict.

In court documents, Waldbaum accuses Slodzinski of saying, “I want you to know what it feels like to be high,” and, “I am going to get you high with this freebie.”

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 the attorney, Ari S. Casper. “In the healthcare 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 Slodzinski is still working for the health system and that he 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.