Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

[scarlett09]

I haven't quite figured out yet how to post the text from a website instead of just the URL. So, for right now I will post the URL:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj ... attoo.html

I think this is really weird. Why would you give an adult woman a temporary tattoo? To make her feel better? She is an adult, not a child. And they were operating on her back. I know that the medical personnel involved in the surgery needed to touch other parts of her body to put her on the operating table, sedate her, etc. But for the surgeon to go below the belt, so to speak, under the guise of making her "feel better" gives me the creeps. I know if I ever woke up with something like that, the other half would make sure that the surgeon wouldn't practice again. I am not talking physically not being able to practice, but no longer having the license to practice medicine.

What do you all think?

Re: Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

Inappropriate - absolutely. Lose his license, livelihood, etc. over obviously poor taste / judgement that did not endanger the patient in any way? No freaking way.

He should be reprimanded. He should never, ever do it again. Perhaps he should even have to make financial amends to the woman who's physical space he violated. But the man should not lose the ability to practice medicine.

[rainbabies]

Re: Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

i read about this yesterday.

way, way creepy. and gross. *heebeegeebees*

[Vanquisher]

Re: Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

Meh. Whatever. I don't condone it, but I don't see the huge fuss either.

[Vishenka69]

Re: Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

Inappropriate - absolutely. Lose his license, livelihood, etc. over obviously poor taste / judgement that did not endanger the patient in any way? No freaking way.

He should be reprimanded. He should never, ever do it again. Perhaps he should even have to make financial amends to the woman who's physical space he violated. But the man should not lose the ability to practice medicine.

What she said. Shouldn't he be able to judge his patient's sense of humor during the pre-op consultation? Did she say that she always wanted a rose tatoo and then was all shocked over it? I don't get why he'd so something like this totally out of the blue.

[Sheherezade]

Re: Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

I agree with Jenn. It is obviously inappropriate, but in no way would lead me to yank the man's license. He just made a stupid mistake. I'm sure that some patients do find it stress releasing and calming to have a silly temporary tattoo when they wake up. Why not the back? You wouldn't see it there. Below the bikini line? Very bad call. Maybe he could just put it on the wrist next to the IV?

Still....it sounds like the guy is just a goof that made the wrong "joke" with the wrong patient. (SInce my DH dances on this "joke" line all the time, I'm very sensitive to this stuff. Some people love it and site it as one of the reasons he's a good doc- and others think he's WAYYYY out of line. He's learned to tone it down.)

Re: Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

I would feel violated. Maybe because I've had to see so many Ob/Gyns & Ob/Gyn subspecialists, or maybe because DH is one, I think one of the first things a doctor should be is respectful of a patient's modesty.

I feel sorry for the guy - for any doctor who has to go through the public humiliation of a law suit like this. He must have had several patients who thought it was fun, and he totally misjudged this patient. But in any case, I can't see how he thought a rose tattoo below the bikini line would be appropriate.

I know DH is extremely careful, but it's SO easy to cross the line, in business tactics or patient interactions, and end up with something like this that looks just horrible in the media.

[diggitydot]

Re: Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

I'm all for trying to make patients feel better, but how about choosing something a teensy bit less likely to get you sued? And really...he thought putting it south of the border was a good idea?!!



Idiot deserves to be sued if his judgment is that short-sighted.

Meh. Whatever. I don't condone it, but I don't see the huge fuss either.

I probably wouldn't have had much of a reaction if this had happened to me, either. However, I'm not particularly sensitive about stuff like this, anyway. But what if he did this to someone who had a history of being physically violated? Yeah, that could send someone's therapy back years. Not a smooth move, Ex-Lax.

[scarlett09]

Re: Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

I don't think I would have his license revoked. I know that would be the reaction of my family and friends if I were ever in that situation. And I know that is because they do not understand that the doctor is a human being. Case in point: a couple of months ago, a distant relative on my DF's side passed away very suddenly. The relative had gone in for surgery to remove a stomach anuerysm and came through alright, but began bleeding internally and passed away while the surgeons were trying to determine the source of the bleeding. Immediately, DF and other relatives blamed the doctor for botching the surgery. As hard as I tried, I could not make them comprehend that there may have been other factors that the surgeons could not have foreseen and could not control. I think that, since there will always be those outside of the medical community who do not understand all of the intangibles of practicing medicine, there will always be people who are screaming for the doctor's head for any sort of misstep.

I don't know if I could make the doctor lose his job. I would know that he had gone through med school and all that training (and paid all of that $$$) - only to lose it all over something like this. Besides paying for counseling (mine and his), I would have one of the stipulations of the lawsuit be that the doctor should go sit in on a medical ethics class at a nearby med school.

[MDPhDWife]

Re: Body art & back surgery: a 2-for-1 deal

Inappropriate - absolutely. Lose his license, livelihood, etc. over obviously poor taste / judgement that did not endanger the patient in any way? No freaking way.

He should be reprimanded. He should never, ever do it again. Perhaps he should even have to make financial amends to the woman who's physical space he violated. But the man should not lose the ability to practice medicine.

I don't believe there was any malice involved, just some poor judgement.