Doctor Doesn't Always Know Best

This post kind of stems off of my super long post that probably no one read, in which I did my best to give a snapshot of the history of Christianity, patriarchy, and women's health. Don't get me wrong, there are some brilliant doctors out there. I personally haven't had the best experiences (again, see my super long post), but Evelyn's pediatrician, for example, is wonderful. But our society still puts too much unquestioning trust into doctors - sometimes its almost like we think they're gods and goddesses or something, ruling over us in their clean white coats (not all doctors wear white coats, but that's the undeniable image of an American doctor). And while advancements in medicine and medical technology have no doubt improved and saved the lives of many, we have to remember that doctors are humans, mortals. They make mistakes, too. Some commit crimes even. Some really sick, medieval-seeming crimes. The folks from Masters in Healthcare have asked me to share with you some of these excerpts from their blog:

Dr. Jan Adams is most famous for performing the breast augmentation surgery on Donda West, Kanye West’s mom, that resulted in her death in 2007. But that’s not the only blemish on his record. In a malpractice suit against Adams, a previous patient claimed that she didn’t receive proper preoperative or postoperative care, leading to an infection that needed two more surgeries. What’s more, one patient claimed he got her drunk after a surgery and impregnated her, and another claimed a surgical sponge was left inside of her after a breast augmentation. Adams, who attended Harvard University, never received his diploma despite apparently completing his academic requirements. He’s also not a board certified plastic surgeon despite claiming to be one.

The notorious Dr. James Burt was exposed for his harmful and downright bizarre practices in the late 1980s when numerous former patients came forward and initiated lawsuits. Beginning in the late 1960s, Burt took it upon himself to perform "love surgeries" in which he altered his patients’ vulvas without their consent. He justified his work in a book he authored in 1975, explaining that "Women are structurally inadequate for intercourse. This is a pathological condition amenable by surgery." He stated the procedure turns them into "horny little mice," though in reality, many of them suffered sexual dysfunction, infection and required corrective surgeries as a result. A $21 million suit was filed against Burt that couldn’t have come close to covering the physical and emotional damages endured by the at least 40 women he hurt.

As a fertility doctor, it was Dr. Cecil Jacobson’s duty to assist women in conceiving, and in the 1980s, it appeared he was doing a pretty good job. His patients reported high success rates due to his use of hCG, a hormone released during pregnancy that causes the typical bodily changes. During the supposed pregnancies initiated by hCG, he would identify the fetuses during an ultrasound, but they would usually "die" after about three months. Patients who suspected something was amiss informed a local television station, which investigated and exposed Jacobson. In the process, they discovered he used his semen to artificially inseminate patients who were told they were matched with an anonymous donor. Genetic testing later showed that he was the biological father of at least seven of his patients’ children. Jacobson, who won the Ig Nobel Prize for Biology in 1992 and claimed to have successfully oversaw the impregnation of a male baboon in the 1960s, was stripped of medical license and sentenced to five years in prison.

Ingrid Paulicivic certainly won’t be recommending Dr. Alinsod given what occurred during her June 2009 hysterectomy. According to Paulicivic’s lawsuit, while putting the finishing touches on the surgery, Dr. Alinsod decided to brand his work by using an "electrocautery device to carve and burn" her name into her removed uterus. Alinsod claimed the move was necessary to ensure he wouldn’t confuse the uterus with others. Paulicivic became aware of the branding during a follow-up visit in which she complained of the resulting burns on her legs.

And those are only four of the ten listed on the site. I mean, really, wtf is wrong with people? These doctors must have been on huge power trips. Or just psychotic. I have no other explanation. But no, this post is not to scare you or bash the medical industry. Just sharing some information that was brought to my attention.

In other news, it's Friday! I love Fridays. Thanks for reading my rambles.

P.S. I just remembered: I watched the latest episode of House last night, and when he was asked if he would convert to Judaism if he and Cutty (sp?) get married, he said, "I'm an atheist." How many times to you even hear the word "atheist" on prime time television? Yay (again, see this post) Dr. House! (although, I'm finding more and more things wrong with the show, but that's another post).