Doctor Allegedly Mocked Obese Woman, Told Patient To Shoot Self

[warrior1]

http://www.kcra.com/health/9481716/detail.html

Judge Orders Disciplinary Proceedings To Stop

CONCORD, N.H. -- A judge has ordered the state Board of Medicine to stop disciplinary proceedings against a doctor accused of telling a patient she was so obese she might only be attractive to black men and advising another to shoot herself following brain surgery.

Judge Edward Fitzgerald made clear in a ruling released Thursday that he did not condone remarks attributed to Dr. Terry Bennett and found them unnecessary, but ruled Bennett had a right to speak bluntly.

"It is nonetheless important ... to ensure that physicians and patients are free to discuss matters relating to health without fear of government reprisal, even if such discussions may sometimes be harsh, rude or offensive to the listener," he concluded in the ruling Wednesday.

The complaints against Bennett included charges that he told a white patient that she was so obese she might only be attractive to black men.


***
does any thing shock us anymore...

[Drum]

1. I'm only shocked that it was in NH

:(

[Clark2008]

3. Why does that shock you?

Did you think all the racists were in the South?

:eyes:

[Drum]

5. My prejudices, in fact...

I have family in NH, and know some really good people from the state. I'd thought that the New England yankees were more chilly to outsiders than they were mean to individuals or blatant about "black men." This doc sounds like a transplant.
But those are my blinders... :shrug:

[sarge43]

6. We have our unfair share of racists upcheer

And the doctor may not be a Granitehead.

[calico1]

15. Why does it shock you?

We have plenty of idiots in the North.

[Clark2008]

2. And people don't have to go to this dickweed

Not only was he offensive to the overweight woman, but he also made a racist statement that only black men find heavy women attractive. Can we say, "stereotyping?"

I agree he has the right to say any stupid, insensitive and racist/sexist thing he wants, but patients shouldn't be forced to go see him, either.

What a tool.

[bluestateguy]

4. Offensive as these remarks are

doctors need to be free to speak frankly with their patients. If they have to worry about reprimands and court orders restricting what they can say then patients will not get the frank advice that they need. If the occasional offensive remark has to be tolerated as a result, then that is a price worth paying.

[1monster]

7. But telling a patient to shoot him/herself is NOT okay. Not even

under the claim of free speech because it is malpractice and that patient should sue the pants off the doctor.

[devilgrrl]

8. "she might only be attractive to black men"

You've got to be kidding me. :eyes:

[1monster]

36. I don't think that was in any way acceptable. But at least he

didn't tell her to kill herself. As medical advice goes, that has to be the worst I've ever heard.

I believe the first rule of the Hypocratic Oath is "Do No Harm"

With that in mind, I don't believe the courts had any business interfering in the medical board censoring this doctor.

With any luck, the publicity over this will be such that no one will go to him any more and he will have to take down his shingle.

[WI_DEM]

9. yes they can speak bluntly

such as "if you don't lose weight there is a good chance you might be dead within (such and such) years." or "The brain tumor is quite serious and I have to be completely honest with you..." but to be racist and stereotypical and to suggest that somebody might as well kill themselves--is beyond contempt. The jerk should have been disciplined.

[durrrty libby]

12. “doctors need to be free to speak frankly with their patients”

A doctor’s job is to help a patient, not shame them.

Part of their oath is “first do no harm.”

Causing a patient more psychological harm, is not a cure.

This ignorant knuckle dragger needs to have his license yanked.

He obviously has no common sense, so I can't imagine his medical sense is any
better.

[DrGonzoLives]

23. Uh

Advocating suicide is apparently OK with you then. Right.

[Catherine Vincent]

41. I guess that figures you would defend that crap.

[goforit]

10. I'm sure he will now be appointed head of the AMA.

[plasticsundance]

11. I wonder how it jives with the Hippcratic Oath

To keep the good of the patient as the highest priority.

To practice and prescribe to the best of my ability for the good of my patients, and to try to avoid harming them.

I guess the doctor got around the latter by suggesting the patient hurt herself. :eyes:

[bleedingheart]

13. I bet that doctor has very few friends...

[Warpy]

14. A doc who is THAT blunt needs to be checked out

because something is disinhibiting him. It's either drugs or disease.

Docs can be blunt without being racist, insulting, or recommending suicide.

Seriously, something is wrong with this guy.

[shanti]

43. exactly

whatever happened to the "bedside manner"??? i'm astounded that this dr. would make such a bigoted statement.

[whistle]

16. Among neo-cons this is known as the Josef Menegle form of medical

..practice, torture your patients into compliance. Although a bit harsh, if you can save even one patient's life by telling them to blow their brains out, then it is worth it.

Under the growing use of HMO medical reimbursement, this makes perfect sense. The primary care doctor is allotted a fixed amount of funds per patient. The more actual real medical services that are performed, the less money from the fixed funds are left for the physician.

A patient who is suffering from real medical health problems due to obesity is a zero revenue producer for a physician, so it is natural to do nothing for them. The best a doctor should be expected to do is collect their co-pay fee, see them every three months and on each visit embarrass them into feelings of guilt and remorse so that the patient is absolutely convinced they have brought this onto themselves.

It also helps if the families and friends of the obese persons can be persuaded to go along with the physicians methods. So the physician tries to convince them that the patient has brought this on themselves. If the physician is convincing enough he may actually succeed in getting the patient's relatives to wish the patient were dead or at least nowhere around to be seen. This is what is known as the holistic Menegle medical approach.

Follow the HMO money trail.:evilgrin:

[tocqueville]

17. This is not freedom of speech, this is insults

freedom of speech isn't absolute and some speech can cause harm. What if one of the patients as a reaction to these insults goes and commit suicide ? Are they waiting for the next case ? what if he says something to an insecure young person and implies that he/she is gay and the person takes it so badly (due to social circumstances) he/she goes and shoot him/herself ?

This "without fear of government reprisal" is only libertarian BS as usual. The government isn't involved in this, only the judicial system. So next time you can say "anything" depending if the patient is Democrat, Republican, Communist, Christian or not, Muslim, Black etc... or even refuse to treat them...

I believe that in any European country the doctor had been at least warned by the discipline board, if not barred and probably condemned in a civil law suit for the "black" remark.

besides the story shows the fundamental flaw in common law :

"Judge Edward Fitzgerald made clear in a ruling released Thursday that he did not condone remarks attributed to Dr. Terry Bennett and found them unnecessary, but ruled Bennett had a right to speak bluntly."

because be we don't give a fuck in the judge's OPINION. It's irrelevant. The judge's job is to assess according to current law if the plaintiff has been harmed by insult or not and to decide a penalty or not.

And a judge shouldn't have any powers to interfere with a LEGAL disciplinary measure from a board. It's called separation of powers.

but I'm just an old European...

[benburch]

18. When did insults become not protected speech?

I can think of some GOOD insults for that point of view, in fact.

[tocqueville]

21. insults towards individuals are usually called libel/slander

and against defined groups hate speech. Even if the second part doesn't sadly apply in the US, the first part what I know of applies.


All states except Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oregon, and Tennessee recognize some categories of statements are considered to be defamatory per se, traditionally:

In states that recognize defamation per se, people making a defamation claim for certain statements do not need to prove that the statement was defamatory:

Allegations or imputations "injurious to another in their trade, business, or profession"
Allegations or imputations "of loathsome disease" (historically leprosy and sexually-transmitted disease, now also including mental illness)
Allegations or imputations of "unchastity" (usually only in unmarried people and sometimes only in women)
Allegations or imputations of criminal activity (sometimes only crimes of moral turpitude) <2>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libel

[benburch]

22. But those must be public utterances.

This was 1 on 1 where I understand that libel and slander do not apply.

[tocqueville]

26. don't they become public when going to court ?

what I know of the doctor didn't deny his utterances

[benburch]

39. Yes, but he did not make them so.

And that makes a legal difference!

[benburch]

19. What an ass.

He should be able to say whatever he likes, but I don't think he needs to retain a medical license to say it.

[Catherine Vincent]

20. "she might only be attractive to black men"

:wtf:

[Marie26]

24. Sounds like House

Why couldn't the Board discipline him? This isn't a freedom of speech issue, it's a professionalism issue.

[rniel]

29. woops

you beat me to it. I didn't see your post.

[Marie26]

32. No problem

But you realize that you can't post again until I get a Coke, right? :) I love "House" too, as a show, but wouldn't want to know a doctor like House in real life. This sounds just like something he'd say.

[drm604]

37. That's what I thought.

Those are exactly the kinds of things House says to his clinic patients. I would have never expected someone in real life to say such things!

[Beausoir]

25. SHe should sue his ass off. That is abuse. There is NO excuse for that.

She was in a vulnerable position and he chose to vent his racist bigotry on her.

Really..telling a patient to kill herself???

The man is no doctor. He's a monster.

[rniel]

27. Sounds like "House"

Anyone watch that show

[Marie26]

28. Jinx. :) nt

[Blue_Tires]

30. shameful.....n/t

[theboss]

31. This is awful...but reminds me of an amusing story

A friend of mine just lost a bundle in a card game to a couple of men who just happened to be of the barrel-chested Italian variety. Needless to say, these are not the type of guys you want to be in debt to.

So, he walks into a bar with a stunned, scared look. He sees another friend who always had money.

He tells the guy his plight and asks for advice.

The advice?

"Get a Lugar."

[npincus]

33. misogynist.

[LostinVA]

34. She is still allowed to sue him, and she should

The judge only ruled that the NH Board of Medicine can't discipline him. I see both sides of that decision.

BUT: she can sue his ass and should... it'll give him much unwanted publicity. There's a way for a doctor to relate important health information to their patients without being racist, belittling, and just plain nasty.

[warrior1]

35. I hope she wins

[MadHound]

38. It is one thing to allow a doctor to speak in order

"to ensure that physicians and patients are free to discuss matters relating to health without fear of government reprisal"

However this is beyond dicussing matters relate to a patients health, this is abuse of a patient, and promotion of suicide. I hope that these patients sue this doctor right out of his practice.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[johnaries]

42. My question is: Why would anyone go to this asshole?

This is a case where I think we should let the Free Market simply do it's work. His patients should tell everyone they know not to visit him, and why.

Let him try to pay his insurance fees and his school loan when he has no patients. Much less his Mercedes and McMansion payments.

Asshole.