In the time since Dr. Dean Lorich, 54, reportedly died as the result of suspected suicide on Sunday, additional details about the days leading to his death are surfacing. Lorich was the trauma surgeon credited with saving U2 frontman Bono’s arm following extensive reconstructive surgery in November 2014. Bono sought to avert another bicyclist in New York’s Central Park when an accident happened. On December 8, Lorich learned that he no longer had privileges at New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP), which meant he could not practice at the prestigious hospital.
Lorich is rumored to have been booted from the hospital as an effect of supporting the “wrong horse” in an in-house “political battle,” the New York Post reported. Though on Lorich remained on NYP’s website as staff “late Monday night,” the Post noted, by late Wednesday night a search of the hospital’s directory online for his name resulted in “Nothing found.” As well, the biography for “Dr. Dean G. Lorich” has been removed from NYP’s website, though a December 9 Google cached copy, dated was still accessible late Wednesday.
Hospital that ousted renowned surgeon mourning the ‘tragic development’
A spokeswoman for New York-Presbyterian Hospital declined to comment about Lorich’s status on Monday night, according to the Post.
She referenced the hospital’s statement offered on Sunday, which stated that NYP is mourning “the tragic development.”
Lorich, who was married and had three daughters, was discovered on Sunday with a knife in his chest, close to his heart, by his 11-year-old daughter who ran for help and to the doorman at the Manhattan apartment building where the family lived.
Lorich was unconscious and unresponsive. Police are investigating his death as a possible suicide. Authorities believe that he died of a self-inflicted wound.
Police said trauma doctor was under stress, lawsuit filed by NFL player
After emergency responders pronounced the acclaimed surgeon dead on Sunday, New York police indicated that Lorich was under stress without specifying a cause.
In addition to being stripped of the ability to practice at NYP, Lorich was also embroiled in a civil lawsuit that was filed in 2016 by former New York Giants running back Michael Cox. Cox asserted that Lorich ruined his professional football career following a “botched surgery,” according to FOX News.
On November 8, FOX noted, that Lorich performed surgery on Cox after the NFL player’s leg was broken during a game with the Seattle Seahawks in 2014. Attorney Steven North claims that Cox saw Lorich for post-operative care, but the pro player’s “condition continued to worsen.”
Cox had a multi-million dollar, four-year contract with the Giants at the time of his injury. According to North, his client is “unlikely” to play pro football again, though he saw additional doctors.
Resulting from those doctor visits, according to North and FOX, medical professionals were not able to “salvage” Cox’s ankle bone, which was not repaired by Lorich.
Cox’s lawsuit, which asks for an unspecified amount, was not only filed against Lorich but also NYP and the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). Since the suit is pending litigation, HSS’s spokeswoman declined to comment about the suit.
