Dr blatantly ignored my request and claims foreskin needs to be gently pushed back

[SoCaliMommy]

 I plan on switching Dr's on monday and filing a complaint  with our insurance provider its a HMO.

Ugh I’m shocked and appalled that a Dr can be so out of touch with intact care, and to top it off ignore a verbal request from a parent.  She was talking about how it needs to be gently pushed back and how he could have issues if its not done and need to be circumcised and how she's see 5 cases were boys needed to be Circumcised. 

Is there anything else i can do to get her in trouble since she blatantly ignored my request ?      

     I don't want her to keep getting away with what she is doing to other boys since she obviously thinks there is nothing wrong with it. 

[Dev]

I experienced a similar, but worse experience with a pediatrician and contacted Attorney John Geisheker, who is the Executive Director and Legal Counsel for www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org  - His email is at this website which is - [e-mail] .  He will send a thoroughly researched letter with citations to the doctor (for no fee) informing her that what she did was not only bad medical advice but could be harmful to the point of malpractice. He will request that the doctor respond to his letter and at your request will file a complaint with the state medical licensing board. Although John doesn't charge for his service, I sent a $25 check as a donation to the Doctors Opposing Circumcision organization, and last Christmas I sent him another $25 donation letting him know how grateful and appreciated I am for his and his colleagues efforts in protecting little boys from genital harm and cutting. Doctors must be held accountable for their outdated harmful medical advice and treatment.

Edited by Dev - 5/6/12 at 7:45pm

[SoCaliMommy]

 I did email them and from the info they emailed me back that they don't send research information to the dr anymore and according to their FAQ that what his dr did sadly isn't  serious enough to file a complaint with the state medical board.

[Frank Speaks]

Originally Posted by SoCaliMommy 

 I plan on switching Dr's on monday and filing a complaint  with our insurance provider its a HMO.

Ugh I’m shocked and appalled that a Dr can be so out of touch with intact care, and to top it off ignore a verbal request from a parent.  She was talking about how it needs to be gently pushed back and how he could have issues if its not done and need to be circumcised and how she's see 5 cases were boys needed to be Circumcised. 

Is there anything else i can do to get her in trouble since she blatantly ignored my request ?      

     I don't want her to keep getting away with what she is doing to other boys since she obviously thinks there is nothing wrong with it. 

The answer begins with a question, Why does she recommend this?"  Probably because of her wrongful advice, she sees boys that have phimosis.  This is a narrowing of the foreskin opening that is caused by her recommendations.  It is also likely that she believes boys should be retractile by 3 years old.  This is because of a study done in 1949 that said the average age of retraction is 3 years old.  It's a big leap to go from the average age to all boys should be retractile by 3 years old but many doctors make that leap.

More accurate information has come out since 1949 that shows that the average age of natural retraction is actually 10.5 years old but it seems that few doctors have bothered to read it.  It is common for these doctors to recommend circumcision if the boy is not retractile at 3 years old.  It is even common for them to try to diagnose phimosis earlier than that to recommend circumcision.

But, there is another possibility.  Meatal Stenosis is very common in circumcised boys occuring in about 9% - 31% of circumcised boys.  It is virtually non-existent in intact boys.  American doctors see so many cases of meatal stenosis and don't realize it is almost exclusively associated with circumcision that they want to check intact boys.  The only way they can check for it is to expose the urinary opening by slightly retracting the foreskin opening.  This might be what is happening.  Unfortunately, they often go too far and completely retract the foreskin.

Instead of reporting her to the insurance company, it is better to report her to the state medical board.

Frank

[SoCaliMommy]

 I just filed a complaint with the OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA. Hopefully it will help in preventing this dr from being misinformed about intact patients from now on.

[SoCaliMommy]

 I got a reply from the insurance "  That the care that was provided was appropriate "

…. umm how the hell was it appropriate that a dr blatantly ignore a parent. Really i would love to know? Oh yeah and it’s BS that a dr needs to check a intact male for infection which was what she told the case investigator. 

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

but I bet in the future she wont be messing with foreskins simply to avoid having to deal with possible complaints again.

[katt]

I'd send another letter to the insurance co. with research to back you up.

I'd keep sending that same letter on up the food chain.  Ending with the politicals.

[ursaminor]

Yes, do what katt said.  Send medical info.  The AAP has a stance on forced retraction, you can send that, too.

[SoCaliMommy]

 It's a big box HMO so i'm sure who to send the info to and i doubt they'd even bother to read it :(