Bodycam footage of police at the InSight Surgery Center in Lone Tree, Colo., the day Bart Writer died (Lone Tree Police Department via KUSA).
A grand jury in Colorado has indicted a doctor who was allegedly paying more attention to the "music bingo" game he and his co-workers were playing than to his dying patient during a routine cataract surgery.
Anesthesiologist Dr. Michael Urban, 68, is facing a manslaughter charge in the death of 56-year-old Bart Writer, according to local NBC affiliate KUSA. The incident occurred on Feb. 3, 2023, when Writer went into the InSight Surgery Center in Lone Tree, a suburb of Denver, for a cataract surgery.
The surgeon in charge, Dr. C. Starck Johnson, had known the patient for several years and was scheduled to perform alongside anesthesiologist Dr. Michael Urban. The short procedure was supposed to take about 10 minutes. There were alarms in place to alert medical staff about Writer's vitals going askew, but those alarms were reportedly shut off so staff could hear the music coming from Urban's phone, which played a "music bingo" game.
"There is no joy. Certainly, there is no joy in any of this. Not for me, my son, our families or our friends," Chris Writer, Bart Writer's wife, told KUSA. "Everything that happened was completely preventable."
According to the lawsuit, obtained by KUSA, Bart Writer's vital signs became "abnormal" 11 minutes into the procedure. But the lawsuit stated that while Bart Writer was attached to several monitors that featured alarms if readings veered from normal levels, "[n]o one in the operating room ensured that the audible tones, signals, and alarms were turned on and audible prior to the start of the procedure."
When Bart Writer began experiencing respiratory distress, the lawsuit stated that Johnson and Urban were engaged in a game of "music bingo." According to KUSA's reporting on deposition statements made by both doctors, the game was based on a playlist played from Urban's cellphone, which included songs from the 1970s and 1980s. Bands and musicians were identified by the first letter of their first names — e.g., the Bee Gees were letter "B," Gladys Knight was letter "G." And the goal was to be the first to spell "BINGO."
Urban, who was the only person in the operating room able to see Bart Writer's vital sign readings, was the one keeping score during that day's "music bingo" game.
Bart Writer, who was covered during surgery from the head down, had started turning blue from lack of oxygen. By the time he was taken to a hospital nearby, it was too late to save him. He was pronounced dead at the hospital; the cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest.
Chris Writer told KUSA, "They just didn't pay attention. Maybe they do so many of these surgeries that it just becomes so routine. I'm just infuriated." After her husband's death, she had received a tip from an unnamed doctor who was not in the operating room, who said Johnson and Urban were known to play their "music bingo" game during surgical procedures.
The grieving widow hired attorneys to question both doctors, who admitted in recorded depositions — also obtained by KUSA — to playing the game while they operated on Bart Writer
Chris Writer sued Johnson, who seemed to throw his former "music bingo" playmate under the bus. In a statement to KUSA, he blamed Urban — with whom he said he performed 8,000 cataract surgeries — "for decisions that violated proper protocol."
Johnson's attorney told KUSA, "Dr. Johnson relies on the anesthesiologist to provide the proper dose and type of anesthesia, to properly monitor the patient's condition, and to communicate all relevant information to the surgeon including if they have elected, for whatever reason, to silence the audible alarms. During the cataract surgery, Dr. Johnson is looking through a microscope for the entire procedure. Therefore, he must rely on the surgical team for many aspects of surgical care."
He added, "Nothing in Dr. Johnson's experience would explain, justify or have predicted Dr. Urban's decisions on that day."
Urban responded to the statement through his attorney, who told KUSA that "Dr. Urban stands by his care and treatment of Mr. Writer and disagrees with the surgeon's characterizations of the events of that day, which we understand are in the context of contentious litigation. He is nonetheless very sympathetic towards Ms. Writer and her loss."
Urban no longer works at InSight Surgery Center after moving out of state.
KUSA reported that Chris Writer and Johnson settled for an undisclosed amount.
Jamie Frevele contributed to this report
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