Should it be a surgeon's duty to tell a patient to go elsewhere?

[DonBecker54]

I've given this a lot of thought, and decided to get opinions from others.

When I had my surgery, the doctor said, "you're going to lose some length." I figured he was talking 1/4" or something like what some others on this forum have experienced. I wasn't expecting to lose 2".

I'd expressed my concerns in our first meeting about losing length, so he knew that this was an issue.

As I think about it now, I believe the doc should have said, "there are surgeons whose patients lose little or no length from their implant surgery. I'm not one of those surgeons. If this is a big concern of yours, you should see one of those surgeons".

This isn't like selling a car. I believe the doctor owes the patient the unvarnished truth. Anything less is unprofessional.

Agree or disagree?

[RichardTheFrog]

I've given this a lot of thought, and decided to get opinions from others.

When I had my surgery, the doctor said, "you're going to lose some length." I figured he was talking 1/4" or something like what some others on this forum have experienced. I wasn't expecting to lose 2".

I'd expressed my concerns in our first meeting about losing length, so he knew that this was an issue.

As I think about it now, I believe the doc should have said, "there are surgeons whose patients lose little or no length from their implant surgery. I'm not one of those surgeons. If this is a big concern of yours, you should see one of those surgeons".

This isn't like selling a car. I believe the doctor owes the patient the unvarnished truth. Anything less is unprofessional.

Agree or disagree?

You need a revision from Dr. Kramer in Baltimore. You'll get it back.

[Lost Sheep]

Morality, formal Canons of Ethics, legal duty to disclose and common courtesy all indicate with vatying degrees of specificity and obligation what any person should do (or tell).

Doctors' Hippocratc Oath says something about your question. You should look up the entire oath, but the salient part here i think is "first, do no harm". This may mean to him to not kill you or injure you. To you it obviously means not to diminish you.

EDIT: I looked up theWikipedia entry, Apparantly the current version does not include the phrase "do no harm", but does pledge the physician to "not be ashamed to say 'I know not,'". Then there is the duty for the Doctor to verify he/she has the patient's informed consent for any procedure. And that requires him/her to give you that information. So, the anwer to your question, in my mind is, "Yes".

However, if he did the best he could, he may indeed have a clear conscience. (Not that I believe that, considering recent posts about him, but I cannot say from a standpoint of certainty as all reports are anecdotal.)

It falls to you to make him mindful of his mistakes, unfortunately. You have my sympathy and my respect as you go forward, whatever actions you take.

Good luck

Lost Sheep

[DonBecker54]

I'm already going with Eid. But my question is whether Milam should have admitted up front that he wouldn't be able to do the job to my satisfaction.

[ThePlumber1964]

Don,

Your posting is capturing what most of us have gone through, or worse. When a physician misrepresent himself as a very confident skilled one, and he is not, it is plainly malpractice.

Not every physician has the ethics to do what you described. And the sad part is that the profound negative impact his conduct has on the patiens' life is permanent, even after having a successful revision that addresses all concerns.

[DonBecker54]

I was an advertising photographer for 30 years, and a good one. But if someone had come to me with a job that absolutely required something more than my skills, I would have referred the client to a photographer who specialized in that.

[ED2013]

I do agree that it should be a surgeons duty to refer patients elsewhere. Unfortunately it's common that they do not. The first surgeon I consulted about an implant advised me not to get one. He said he could do it, but I would lose size and would be oval shaped and feel unnatural.

[RichardTheFrog]

I do agree that it should be a surgeons duty to refer patients elsewhere. Unfortunately it's common that they do not. The first surgeon I consulted about an implant advised me not to get one. He said he could do it, but I would lose size and would be oval shaped and feel unnatural.

Well in this case, this surgeon would refer EVERYONE.

[DonBecker54]

I do agree that it should be a surgeons duty to refer patients elsewhere. Unfortunately it's common that they do not. The first surgeon I consulted about an implant advised me not to get one. He said he could do it, but I would lose size and would be oval shaped and feel unnatural.

Well in this case, this surgeon would refer EVERYONE.

And well he should.

[longdayze]

Don
Great question, but if my first surgeon had told the truth he would be making less than minimum wage, he suffered from LOT which is short for "Lack of Talent"
I think the medical community does a disservice to all by protecting those who are not qualified and there are many in that category. Unfortunately I've never heard of any doctor revealing his lack of skill to any patient. After all they call their business a practice.

SAM I AM