NY Surgeon Found Dead in Apparent Suicide

Prominent New York trauma surgeon Dr. Dean Lorich was found dead in his apartment with a knife in his chest Sunday afternoon in an apparent suicide.

Authorities said Lorich, 54, was found around 1 p.m. by his 11-year-old daughter, the New York Post reported. The girl ran to tell the doorman, who called 911, the police said.  

There were no signs of forced entry, and Lorich’s wife and older daughter were not home when the body was found, police said, according to the newspaper. There was no suicide note found. An investigation is ongoing.

“He was under some personal stress,” an NYPD source said, the New York Daily News reported.

Lorich held the position of associate director of the Orthopedic Trauma Service at Hospital for Special Surgery and was also Chief of the Orthopedic Trauma Service at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He treated U2 singer Bono in 2014 after a bicycling accident in Central Park as well as other well-known people. 

Lorich also taught at Weill Cornell Medical College.

The New York Daily News reported Lorich was being sued by former New York Giants running back Michael Cox for failing to treat an ankle injury after Cox broke his leg in a 2014 football game. Cox’s lawyer Steven North told the Daily News that Lorich’s failure to treat the ankle correctly led to different surgeries and the end of Cox’s playing career. 

Lorich would not likely have had to pay any damages from the suit, since he was covered under the hospital’s insurance policy, the Daily News reported. 

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