According to recent reports, opening arguments are set to begin this week in the trial regarding a New Jersey surgeon who supposedly took advantage of his patients while they were under anesthesia. The oral surgeon, from Andover, is being accused of sexually abusing five of his female patients who at the time were under anesthesia. Anesthesia is a sedative used for a majority of surgeries so the patient is unable to feel any pain or discomfort.
The case has been quite controversial in the community seeing as the surgeon was a trusted physician. However, these five women claim that he is anything but trustworthy and feel that he used the drug to take advantage of them.
Anesthesia Lawsuit Details
Allegations have been brought against Dr. Joel Phillip Kurtz, 64, who has been practicing dentistry and oral surgery in Sussex County from 1974 to 2004. He was forced to stop practicing when the initial charges were brought against him. The first three cases came all at once from three women who claimed they were all separately sexually abused while in his office and under anesthesia. Only months later a fourth woman came forward and finally a fifth weeks after that. All the women decided to file a joint suit against Dr. Kurtz in an attempt to get his license revoked so he is unable to do the same harm to others.
Dr. Kurtz’s lawsuit is reportedly the first high-profile suit to be filed in the Newton historic courthouse and many community members have shown their support for the women.
The defendants claim they were heavily sedated when Dr. Kurtz molested them and state that had they not been under anesthesia they would have been able to prevent the abuse from occurring. They also blame the office staff who were negligent for not being more aware of what was happening.
Click here to Subscribe to RSS Feed
