'Awake' Oregon cancer patient's face catches fire during surgery; family sues doctor

An Oregon cancer patient's wife has filed a lawsuit against the hospital and doctor, alleging her 'awake' husband's face caught on fire, leaving him permanently disfigured while undergoing a surgery at Oregon Health & Science University as part of his treatment.

In December 2022, John Michael Murdoch , a 52-year-old cancer patient, underwent a tracheostomy—a procedure to create a breathing hole in his neck—at Oregon Health & Science University as part of his treatment for tongue cancer. During the procedure, Murdoch's face caught on fire, leaving him permanently disfigured, according to a lawsuit filed by his wife, Toni Murdoch.

The lawsuit, which seeks $900,000 in damages, alleges that the surgical staff had sterilized Murdoch's face with isopropyl alcohol, but it hadn’t fully dried when a surgical tool sparked, causing the fire. Murdoch was awake and conscious during the incident.

Ron Cheng, the Murdoch family lawyer, told the Oregonian, as quoted by New York Post, "It never should have happened." He added that while Murdoch had difficulty speaking, he expressed to his wife the suffering and trauma the burns caused him in his last months.

Tragically, Murdoch succumbed to his cancer in June 2023, nearly six months after the surgical fire. The lawsuit claims that he never fully healed from the traumatic and disfiguring incident before his death.

The suit also alleges that the tool used during the procedure had a history of throwing off sparks, which, combined with oxygen and the wet alcohol, created a "fire triangle." It names Oregon Health & Science University, Dr Adam Howard, and unnamed surgical staff members as defendants.

Howard initially obtained his medical license in 2022, but it expired in January 2024 in Oregon, according to New York Post. While he remains listed as an instructor on the hospital's website, West Virginia University featured him in a post on their website from November 2023.

The American College of Surgeons warns that perfect conditions for fires exist in operating rooms and urges medical staff to remain vigilant to prevent such incidents. It is estimated that there are 90 to 100 surgical fires yearly in the United States, according to a report by New York Post.