Update from State Medical Licensing Board from over a year ago...

[foreskin friendly]

You all may remember how my involvement in this forum came to be, if not,
I'll give you a small recap...

July, 2007.
My son had a hernia surgery. We drove two hours to go to what we thought was a reputable hospital for his surgery. We were MOST CONCERNED THAT SOMEONE WOULD hurt him because he is intact. At the consultation prior to surgery, we voiced our concerns about Liam not being circumcised and that we CHOSE to leave him that way intentionally. He SAID, "It is a non-issue."

Well, I had a strange feeling, so much so that I even asked to accompany him into the surgery room. I mentioned again to the Dr. right before surgery that we didn't want his penis hurt...(I didn't know at the time the horrors of forcible retraction)....but thought I covered it all and assumed nothing was going to happen with his penis whatsoever....

Well, it did.

So, I wrote letters.. I sent out over 150 letters via snail mail and more than two dozen emails to children's right organizations/advocates, newsmedia, magazines, all of the hospitals the Dr. has privileges at..and especially the state medical licensing board.

I FINALLY got an unfavorable response from the board and NEED to send in an appeal. The hospital sent (a while ago) a letter in response to my complaint saying that this Dr. has been employing this practice his entire career without negative consequence...
Apparently, he doesn't follow guidelines (I even copied and provided) of the AAP about care of the intact penis (to never forcibly, especially, surgically, retract!)...
He must STOP!!!

I sure could use some suggestions/help/advice ... my head is spinning right now....
I'll retype the 1st paragraph here (the rest is generic drivel):

"Dear Ms. ------,

The Prosecution Division of the Department of State has completed its inquiry into the complaint you filed against Dr. _____. In your complaint, you alleged that Dr. ___ forcibly retracted the foreskin of your uncircumcised son, allegedly to clean any stool and smegma prior to orchioplasty and inguinal hernia repair. Following review, this office has determined that the circumstances in this case do not permit formal prosecution. Consequently, the file in this matter is now closed.
....


Sincerely,
__________
Senior Prosecutor in Charge
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of State"


AGAIN,

[KnitLady]

I'm so sorry! That is a horrible response. I don't know what to say.

[Fi.]

Unfortunately since it's PA you're likely not going to get anywhere. DPW still calls circumcision medically necessary and won't take it off Medicaid's coverage list.

Oh they removed certain hemophelia drugs though, THOSE are luxuries and cheaper alternatives can always be found.

[tennisdude23]

Unless your son would be suffering long term medical effects from the surgery, I doubt they would ever prosecute the doctor. It's not worth it for them, and if your son is doing ok, I would just drop it.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Droping it sends the wrong message IMO. This is a big deal it wont be known if he will suffer later because of the way this Dr. did the retraction. He may very well end up with no problems but then again he could suffer with true adhesions that would require surgery to correct.

His was a particularly horrific retraction ie what they do to babies before a circ, sticking a metal object under the foreskin and ripping it loose from the glans : (please correct me if I am wrong on that detail FF I have a shoddy memory here lately)

And can I just say :Puke to this:

this Dr. has been employing this practice his entire career without negative consequence...

& also : for those poor boys he has done that to.

[GoodMomma]

I'm so sorry.....that sucks!! :

[foreskin friendly]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

Droping it sends the wrong message IMO. This is a big deal it wont be known if he will suffer later because of the way this Dr. did the retraction. He may very well end up with no problems but then again he could suffer with true adhesions that would require surgery to correct.

His was a particularly horrific retraction ie what they do to babies before a circ, sticking a metal object under the foreskin and ripping it loose from the glans : (please correct me if I am wrong on that detail FF I have a shoddy memory here lately)

And can I just say :Puke to this: & also : for those poor boys he has done that to.

You are correct...
My son's foreskin was at LEAST 3/4 adhered.... not retractable much (I know as I was given conflicting info from the new ped in PA TO retract during diaper changes, albeit, ever-so-gently...
I now know not to do this AT ALL .... but of course, it is too late...

Liam WILL more than likely have to have corrective surgery:
1. IF he desires
2. when he is old enough...
and
3. once HE sues the pants off of the doctor that did this too him... hopefully PA will get a little more enlightened on genital integrity over the next 15 years (that is another one of my motivations to be extremely proactive in intactivism...)

anyhow,
he has horrible adhesions on the underside of the glans, each side of the frenulum, so much so that when he is checking himself out, and retracts himself, his glans bend downward (his foreskin on the underside does not give, but the top does)...
I think about what happened to him AT LEAST once every day, usually numerous times.
I despise that doctor for violating my son's innocent body as he lay on the table anesthetized and unable to defend himself.
When people search for further explanation and I explain that he had somewhat of a partial circumcision performed without our consent, most don't get it.
Yes, the doctor took a hemostat (or more than one) and probed at his penis...he left a raw bloody mess. He told me to give my son tylenol for the pain (of the surgery) for the week following.
He complained more about the pain he experienced in his penis than the surgery site.
I HAVE to send an appeal and would appreciate more guidance from you ladies and gents before proceeding...
I know I can get over zealous with my letter writing...
thanks to all who have responded so far...
Jeesh, I was hoping for something a bit more promising from them. It feels like I am reliving this all over.

[tennisdude23]

I'm just curious. Will he need corrective surgery because of the hernia or because of the forced retraction? What did the docs say about adhesions? Why did the doc. even touch him down there? If you can prove he has complications from the surgery, than maybe you have a case.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

She said he will need corrective surgery because of the adhesions left behind after he healed on the foreskin/glans:

he has horrible adhesions on the underside of the glans, each side of the frenulum, so much so that when he is checking himself out, and retracts himself, his glans bend downward (his foreskin on the underside does not give, but the top does)...

As far as I know his hernia surgery was successfull (forgive me for jumping in FF )

If you do a search using the OP's name you can find the original thread that has all the detail in it.

[Ensemble]

I am so sorry about what happened to your son.

I have tried to go back and read the older information you posted.

Do I understand correctly that the doctor (or representative) admitted in writing that not only did they forcibly separate your son's prepuce, but that they do it as standard practice?

That is outrageous. I applaud you for following up on this the way that you have. There must be recourse for something like this. Have you inquired of any lawyers if they think they could win a lawsuit? I can't help but wonder if this doctor is still doing this.

I am stunned. Your fight to not let this go silently is noble.

[Nandi]

You should definitely look into suing. Doctors must not be allowed to continue this atrocious behavior.
Keep up the fight!

[Night_Nurse]

Big hugs to you and your son. It's late. Sorry if this has already been covered and I've just missed it...Have you contacted DOC or arclaw.org ? If not, maybe they'd have some good advice. Have you hired a lawyer to sue to doctor? I would think you'd have legal grounds since you told them not to mess with his penis and the dr. went against parental wishes & AAP guidelines.
I'm sure you should submit an appeal, although I'm not sure what all you should say. Maybe just remind them why retracting is wrong, how it's caused your son pain and scarring/bending and make sure they know it's against AAP guidelines.
Even if it falls on deaf ears and they do nothing to the Dr, I'm sure the doctor in question and other doc's will think twice about doing it to the next child.
If you haven't already, you might want to send a letter to both the hospital/surgical centers legal dept. and their ethics committee.

[Greg B]

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, doctor, noe have I had to deal with htis type of situation.

I agree with Night Nurse. You should get legal council. As far as I can see, the Doctor went against your wishes by doing surgery that you specifically told him not to do, and for which there was no condition requiring it be done, and which was not part of the procedure for which yor son was there.

This is the same as the doctor who "fixed" the anatomy of wmone withou their consent while repairing their episiotomies after giving birth. He was slapped with a class action suit and debarred, if I remember correctly.

It is the same as if hte doctor decided to go ahead and do an appendectomy on your son, since he was working down there anyway, after you had specifically told him not to.

It really is irrelevant what was done. You asked that it not be done, it was not needed for the condition your son was being treated for. this goes against his hypocratic oath and I would think our societies legal and moral guidelines.

If the Board does not have the balls to at the very least reprimand him, then they are pretty useless.

Seek legal council and find out what options you have. If you have a case, sue the bastard.

Sorry, but this type of blatant disregard for the childs well being, parents wishes, legal, and moral guidelines, makes me crazy.

[foreskin friendly]

Originally Posted by Greg B

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, doctor, noe have I had to deal with htis type of situation.

I agree with Night Nurse. You should get legal council. As far as I can see, the Doctor went against your wishes by doing surgery that you specifically told him not to do, and for which there was no condition requiring it be done, and which was not part of the procedure for which yor son was there.

This is the same as the doctor who "fixed" the anatomy of wmone withou their consent while repairing their episiotomies after giving birth. He was slapped with a class action suit and debarred, if I remember correctly.

It is the same as if hte doctor decided to go ahead and do an appendectomy on your son, since he was working down there anyway, after you had specifically told him not to.

It really is irrelevant what was done. You asked that it not be done, it was not needed for the condition your son was being treated for. this goes against his hypocratic oath and I would think our societies legal and moral guidelines.

If the Board does not have the balls to at the very least reprimand him, then they are pretty useless.

Seek legal council and find out what options you have. If you have a case, sue the bastard.

Sorry, but this type of blatant disregard for the childs well being, parents wishes, legal, and moral guidelines, makes me crazy.

I've tried a few lawyers and one actually went so far as to read through the entire medical record (which I requested for "continuing care" prior to writing my letters)...he determined that it is not something he wanted to tackle.
The lawyer from D.O.C. was a HUGE support to me personally and gave me wonderful advice, BUT, also warned me that it will be hard to find an attorney that will be willing to take on our case since PA seems to be so far behind the times and a really aggressive circ state.
He said even if we found an attorney to pursue this, we would basically have to have crossed fingers and hope that a judge/jury (if it went to trial) would see the harm in what the Dr. did.
The Dr. told me that Liam had phimosis (after the fact - once I found out that he forcibly and surgically retracted him and called him when we were almost home, two hours away....should I mention it is a good thing for that Dr. I was two hours away!!) Of course, you all know that a diagnosis of phimosis on a then two-year old is ludicrous.!!!
Right after Liams surgery, still in the hospital, when I just noticed his penis a little swollen (and never manipulated it until later during a diaper change, so I had no idea of what the Dr. did)... anyway, when I noticed the swelling and asked the nurse, then the Dr.... he never said ANYTHING to Joe or I about what he did (while we were still at the hospital...COWARD!)
SO, I figured I'd see if things turned out OK... and I am disheartened to say that it doesn't look like the adhesions on the underside of his glans will ever release. It is a seemless bridge of skin, right from the ridge to the shaft (sorry, I don't remember the technical names)...his frenulum is scarred as if it healed while doubled over...with a bump in it.. it doesn't allow much/if any retraction on the underside and the frenulum is kind of embedded in the skin (it is not an obvious structure underneath his penis)... hope that makes sense.
I took all the steps at that time that I needed to document EVERYTHING he might need in the future if Liam decides (which I will encourage him to do) to sue the Dr. once he is of age too...

I could try sueing, but I've been warned by a few attorneys that it could end up just costing US money we do not have. (Then our family would be victimized twice...first by the Dr./hospital, then by an unfair legal system-if it ruled in favor of the Dr...)

Sorry if I am not articulating my thoughts well, I have been a mess since I opened that letter and my heart sank to my toes.

[1littlebit]

I'm so sorry about what happened to your son! and after everything you u did to protect him! i dont know anything about the law but i think that if you made it clear to the doctor that you didnt want something done and they did it anyway that F*cked up!! majorly and should be illegal. not to mention if this is standard procedure he may be hurtinng so many other little guys to! it is frightening.. leaving our sons intact means having to go to some pretty crazy lengths to keep doctors from hurting our children. i posted once about how clear i was about retraction and i was hovering to make sure and the nurse tried to do it anyway... obviously not on your scale... but something needs to be done to keep doctors from totally disregarding a parents instructions about their child!! and shame on every person who has tried to talk you out of sueing!!

[hakunangovi]

Coleen, I'm so sorry that you are have been put down like this. It just goes to illustrate the total disregard this doctor has for his patients.

I remember your original thread well. We should all 'listen' to our "spider sense" more closely. Yours was working well and you did listen and were apprehensive about this doctor. You voiced your concerns and made your wishes known. That he paid no attention to any of it shows what an arrogant basket he is.

I do not have much advice for you other than to keep track of all medical records and correspondance so that your son can sue. I tend to agree with some of the pp that a lawsuit could be futile and just cost you a lot of money. That really sucks.

It might be worth finding an intact friendly doctor/urologist to document the harm that has been inflicted on your son, and include that with your appeal to give it some extra 'credibility'.

I applaud you for not giving up.

[tammyswanson]

You should have that doctor arrested for molesting your child. THAT sure would send him a message, the pervert! He was touching your sons penis, when you explicitly told him NOT to.

Jump on him with both feet!

[foreskin friendly]

update - here's my letter

I have no idea how to link stuff, so here's the long of it...thanks to all of you who actually did help clear my mind... I used a few of your suggestions, from your responses...you might recognize them...I will let you know what, if anything, happens from here forward...ugghh!! this is so draining, I'm tired of fighting this fight...all of it...ya know?:



We received a determination letter from you dated ... regarding the unauthorized surgical foreskin retraction of our two year-old, intact son, Liam. We also called and left messages on two occasions to which we haven’t received any response. We were disheartened to read in the response, “following review…(your)…office has determined that the circumstances in this case do not permit formal prosecution…the file in this matter is now closed,” without any explanation as to why someone would determine the circumstances in this case do not permit formal prosecution.

The hospital representative, on behalf of Dr. James Michael Lynch, admitted to us in writing that not only did they forcibly separate my son's prepuce (foreskin), but that they do it as standard practice. The American Academy of Pediatrics states, “…do not try to forcibly retract the foreskin… foreskin retraction will occur naturally and should never be forced… during the first several years of life, the intact foreskin will naturally separate from the glans… most boys will be able to retract their foreskins by the time that they are 18 years old…this process happens on its own”.

Liam’s was a particularly horrific retraction. For further explanation, it is exactly what they do to babies during the first part of a circumcision; sticking a hemostat (metal object) under the foreskin and ripping it loose from the glans; something the American Academy of Pediatrics clearly warns should never be done: “Do not retract the foreskin in an infant, as it is almost always attached to the glans. Forcing the foreskin back may harm the penis, causing pain, bleeding, and possibly adhesions. The natural separation of the foreskin from the glans may take many years.”
Liam now has true adhesions on the underside of the glans, each side of the frenulum, so much so that when he is trying to retract his own foreskin, the glans bend unnaturally downward (approximately 50% of his foreskin in the ventral location does not give, but the dorsal foreskin moves)...and the adhesions most likely will require surgery to correct.

Something needs to be done to keep doctors from totally disregarding parent’s instructions about their child.
What this doctor did to our son, our family, and admittedly does to all intact boys who are not fully retractable, illustrates the total disregard this doctor has for his patients. We were apprehensive about this doctor.
We voiced our concerns and made our wishes known. Dr. Lynch paid no attention to our concerns, which displays arrogance as he continues to perform his medical practice. He was touching our son’s penis, when we explicitly told him NOT to, and after he said that Liam’s intact penis was “a non-issue”. He went against our wishes by doing surgery that we specifically told him not to do, for which there was no condition requiring it be done, and which was not part of the procedure for which our son was there. It is the same as if the doctor decided to go ahead and do an appendectomy on our son, since he was working down there anyway, after we had specifically told him not to.

This doctor generated an additional site for infection by choosing to do an unwarranted and unsanctioned procedure, never questioning the wisdom in this outdated practice.

Doctors must not be allowed to continue this atrocious behavior. This goes against the hippocratic oath and our societies’ legal and moral guidelines.

The two issues here, ignoring the specific instructions of the parents, as well as performing a procedure with no known benefits simply to generate additional funds for the surgeon and hospital are not to be taken lightly. Trusts were broken. Harm, specifically the possibility of creating another site that infection could conceivably take hold in, and generating future problems as a result of scarring, were not considered by this professional. This breach of common sense by a professional speaks volumes about this doctor's priorities - the patient is definitely second to revenues!


The Board has an obligation to protect all from doctors’ personal whims and the board should be maintaining the “do no harm” guidelines in the ever-evolving science of medicine.

Has not the Board failed by allowing physicians to ignore the need to keep up training in the ever-evolving science of medicine, including the mores of society regarding outdated procedures? Sanctioning these actions by not addressing them and insisting that practitioners do no harm should be of paramount importance in maintaining this profession's integrity.

I feel your Board has failed my child.


How can closing this petition/complaint be of any value when harm was done? It was my understanding that the board protects both society and doctors by providing guidance and common sense determinations.
If the Board does not see why, at the very least, Dr. James Michael Lynch should be reprimanded, and sent a message that going against a parents’ explicit wishes, and against the AAP guidelines will not be tolerated, then the Board is useless, and more boys will consequently continue to needlessly suffer at the hands of this ignorant, arrogant, and reckless surgeon.


Sincerely,



Colleen

Joe

(Parents of Liam)


Enc: American Academy of Pediatrics “Care for intact penis” guidelines
Copy of Letter from Children’s Hospital
Copy of Letter from John Geisheker

[fruitful womb]

Wow, Colleen, that letter is incredible!!

I'm so proud of you!!!

You're strong determination will pay off in the end. I just know it! Hang in there. Thank you so much for the update.

[Nandi]

That is a wonderful letter. I'm glad you are continuing to fight. It is the right thing to do, especially considering that this doctor could be harming future children. You are doing the right thing.