Boston Doctor abandons patient during surgery to cash check

October 25, 2002 - STATE FAULTS MT. AUBURN HOSPITAL
State health officials released their final report yesterday on the hospital where Dr. David Arndt abandoned his patient during surgery to visit the bank, finding that Mount Auburn Hospital violated the patient's rights afterward by failing to inform him that Arndt had been suspended, by failing to tell him a new doctor had been placed in charge of his care, and by failing to consult him on choosing that new doctor.

After Arndt unexpectedly left the operating room for 35 minutes on July 10, hospital officials immediately barred him from practicing there, but the patient, Charles Algeri, still believed Arndt was in charge of his care, since Arndt continued to visit his bedside and direct his treatment. Hospital officials told Algeri nothing of the incident until Aug. 6, the day the state medical board made the case public by suspending Arndt's medical license. Algieri has vowed to file a malpractice lawsuit against Arndt and possibly others over the incident.

Arndt has also had problems outside the medical sphere: In 1998, he was placed on probation on assault charges; that same year he pleaded guilty to trying to help his domestic partner illegally obtain a US passport; and in August, he was charged with sexually assaulting a minor.

November 9, 2002. NEW POLICY TELLS PATIENTS OF DOCTOR DISCIPLINE

Following an incident July 10 in which Dr. David Arndt left a patient on the operating table for 35 minutes to go to the bank, Mount Auburn Hospital has adopted new policies to better inform patients when their doctors are disciplined. Now, patients must be informed immediately if a doctor is suspended, hospital officials announced in a filing with the state Department of Public Health, and must be consulted on the choice of a new doctor.

September 11, 2002 SUSPENDED DOCTOR CHARGED IN RAPE OF 15-YEAR-OLD BOY

CAMBRIDGE - The Boston doctor under fire for abandoning an unconscious surgery patient to go to the bank was arrested yesterday and charged with the alleged rape of a 15-year-old youth he picked up in Central Square. Police last night held Dr. David C. Arndt, 45, in the station lockup in lieu of $250,000 bail. He was scheduled for arraignment in Cambridge District Court today on three counts of child rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.

September 8, 2002.SUSPENDED SURGEON EYED IN DRUG CASE

Dr. David Arndt, the orthopedic surgeon suspended last month after he left a patient unconscious on the operating table while he went to the bank, is under investigation for possible links to a recent drug bust at a Boston hotel, according to law enforcement officials. Charles Gehra, 31, of Norwood, was arrested at the Swissotel in June on various drug charges, said David Procopio, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney's office.

August 22, 2002.BOARD RAPS ARNDT FOR PASSPORT FRAUD

David Arndt, the orthopedic surgeon who left a patient unconscious on the operating table while he went to the bank, was reprimanded by the state medical board yesterday for another offense - violating federal law by helping his domestic partner falsify a passport application in 1998. The Board of Registration in Medicine had already suspended Arndt's license Aug. 7 for leaving the operating room last month.

August 18, 2002 THE DOCTOR IS OUT

Here's a nightmare anyone can relate to: You're in the middle of spinal surgery when, whoops, you realize you might not have enough in the checking account to cover the electric bill. Don't get worked up. It's payday. All you have to do is take a break, scoot down to the bank, and make a quick deposit before closing time. So we salute you, Dr. David Arndt, who reportedly had to "step out" during an operation at Mount Auburn Hospital for a bank run to Harvard Square...

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