Ohio gynecologist sued for internally spraying patient with drain cleaner chemical

(UPI) -- An Ohio gynecologist is feeling the burn after a patient filed a lawsuit alleging he sprayed her internally with a chemical found in drain cleaner when he meant to use vinegar.

The patient, identified only as Laura, claims that Dr. John Black doused her with a solution containing the chemical potassium hydroxide while he was performing a routine colposcopy at his office at Paragon Health in Summit County. In addition to Black, other unnamed Paragon Health employees have been listed as defendants.

"I was the victim of a pretty horrific experience at my gynecologist exam," Laura told WKYC-TV. "It was like an open cut with rubbing alcohol being poured into it.”

Laura’s husband Paul has been demonstrating outside Paragon's offices with signs claiming that his wife has suffered permanent injuries caused by the burning of her private parts.

"It soaks in and continues to soak in and burns from the inside out. It's not meant to go inside anyone's body," Paul said.

According to the lawsuit, Black suspected something went wrong and attempted to irrigate the burn area with three bottles of saline solution in addition to applying a cream to numb the pain. Unfortunately, Black allegedly wasn’t wearing gloves.

"He puts an ungloved dirty finger inside her and rubs a numbing cream inside her. It's disgusting," Paul said.

Laura says the doctor told her: "I hope you're not offended. I just want to let you know I've been married forever, and I don't have any diseases."

Afterward, when she went to the emergency room at Akron General Hospital, doctors found a plastic bottle cap behind Laura’s cervix.

Further, when the hospital called to determine the pH level of the liquid, Paragon claimed it was 7.5, basically harmless, though the hospital later discovered it was 12 or higher.

But in Paragon's response to the malpractice lawsuit, Dr. Black maintains that he used a vinegar solution on Laura.

Laura and Paul were hoping to have more children, but now believe she will need a hysterectomy. "This a scenario that no woman would ever, ever imagine," she said.