The charges against a Nassau University Medical Center surgeon accused of choking a nurse have been dropped.

News 12 reported that Venkatesh Sasthakonar – a weight loss surgeon and the head of the bariatric surgery department at NUMC – was upset at a 51-year-old nurse for administering an injection into one of his patients at the wrong time.

The nurse then filed a complaint saying that when the doctor reprimanded her, he tried to strangle her with an elastic cord and threatened to kill her. The doctor's attorney, Bruce Barket, said the nurse "literally made stuff up."

"It was pretty clear that not only did he not commit this crime, but that it did not happen," said Barket. 

Nassau prosecutors say they decided to drop the charges against the doctor because there was no evidence. 

Many colleagues of Sasthakonar were in the courtroom and cheered when the charges were dropped. 

Susan Luyckx, an operating room nurse who says she was present at the time of the incident, says that "nothing happened."

"It was all fabricated," she says. "I'm just so relieved it's over." 

Colleagues say the nurse had a personal vendetta against the doctor and made up the allegations.

Dr. Sasthakonar got choked up when talking about the toll the incident and the media coverage had on his wife and children.
    
"You guys have the ability to ruin a person's life in a matter of a few hours and that is a serious responsibility," said the doctor. "I don't know if you can give back my life to me."

His attorney says it's likely they will file a civil suit against the nurse who made the accusations.

As for Dr. Sasthakonar getting his job back, a spokesperson for NUMC says a personnel review by the medical board is continuing.