Another NYPD officer with cancer claims the doctor “destroyed” him

Metro

Factor: Kathianne Boniello

March 18, 2023 | 18:21

A Queens police officer battling aggressive breast cancer claims she was “harassed” by an NYPD deputy surgeon general — forcing her to return to work despite having a port implanted in her chest for chemotherapy, according to a lawsuit.

Nicole Seaman, 33, said returning her to full duty puts her at risk of a medical emergency and even death.

Her medical history, including numerous health problems stemming from her 2018 diagnosis, was allegedly not disclosed to NYPD doctor John Santucci, Seaman alleged in her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit against the city and the doctor.

“Why do I care if you have a gate or not?” Santucci allegedly told him. “If you can’t work full duty, you’re of no use to the NYPD.”

Seaman joined the force in 2014 and was just weeks on maternity leave after the birth of her first child in June 2018 when she received a devastating diagnosis: stage 2 “triple negative” breast cancer “with the bleakest chance of survival,” she said in court on March 3.

The survival rate of the disease is 77 percent.

Seaman has endured 12 surgeries for cancer and breast reconstruction and was out of work until returning to limited duty in 2020, meeting monthly with NYPD doctors.

Santucci took over her case in 2021 and “pissed her off” every time they met, Seaman said in the lawsuit.

“You don’t know how powerful I am,” he told the officer, according to the suit. “I could have left at the end of the day.”

Santucci ordered Seaman to return to work in August, although he still needs a port and cannot wear a bulletproof vest.

“The NYPD Medical Division would rather rebuke a police officer fighting for her life against the most aggressive form of breast cancer than accommodate her,” said her attorney, John Scola.

Seaman, another officer with cancer who is suing Santucci for harassment, is seeking unspecified damages.

A law department spokeswoman said the city is investigating the complaint.

The NYPD declined to comment.

Santucci, who is represented by the Captain’s Endowment Association, declined to comment, but his union said officers who are absent for extended periods are referred to an independent medical board to determine their fitness for duty.

“DR. Santucci followed all rules and regulations,” said CEA Director Chris Monahan.