[Stardust27]

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure whether it was a circumcision or another kind of operation to correct phimosis, because not one of the articles does specify the procedure (!), but since preputioplasty is far from being a well-known and common procedure in Germany, I strongly suspect that it was indeed a circumcision.

According to the German daily newspapers "Frankfurter Rundschau", 10.08.2006 and "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", 11.08.2006:

A four year old boy underwent "routine surgery" to correct phimosis in a hospital in Hamburg/Germany. The operation was "problem-free", but the boy developed a high and persistent fever nonetheless. It was decided to give him glucose via an infusion, but the dosage was too high, and he fell into a coma last Monday and was declared brain-dead on Wednesday. The case is being investigated by the police.

Shortened article from "Frankfurter Rundschau" (German): http://www.frankfurterrundschau.de/i...em_cnt=944863&

Long Version from "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (German): http://www.faz.net/s/Rub21DD40806F83...~Scontent.html

A terrible tragedy, and my heart goes out to his parents and other relatives.

But I hope that this incident will at least put circumcision into focus and be a wake-up call to German doctors to stop prescibing circumcision or surgery for "phimosis" as nonchalantly as they currently do.

Stardust

 

[tsfairy]

Wow that is so sad.

Has it always been common in Germany to prescribe circ for "phimosis"? DH was born in Germany, and had to have a "medically necessary" circ sometime around 8mo. I've always wondered if it was phimosis, and after MIL telling me when I was pg w/ DS that I needed to make sure to pull back the foreskin and clean underneath at every diaper change (I set her straight - thank goodness I knew better!) my suspicions seemed to be confirmed. But I always wondered why they just circed instead of trying something else first.

 

[LadyMarmalade]

I know of 3 Germans (friends of a friend) who have 'had' to have a 'medically necessary' circumcision as children

 

[kxsiven]

A four year old boy underwent "routine surgery" to correct phimosis in a hospital in Hamburg/Germany.

: So it seems very obvious that German doctors are also uneducated what is true phimosis and when one should worry about retraction...

I wonder what they teach in German medical schools?

 

[Revamp]

There but for the grace of Dog...

Urgh.

This really sicken me. As an ex-phimotic myself it strikes an especially bad chord. I fell awful ATM, I just hope that at least some good can come from this and doctors can stop being so incompetant and ignorant about this issue.

Oddly enough by a total coincidence I made a post wondering how doctors could manage to be so totally moronic and uninformed when it came to this issue on the BeaugeBlog after some left a comment telling him that he had actually ripped his foreskin around his glans on his doctor's orders.

But this is ever worse. This is being posted on the BB...

 

[Fi.]

Quote:

So it seems very obvious that German doctors are also uneducated what is true phimosis and when one should worry about retraction...

It's not just Germany. That's how it was in the UK too. I have a few friends who were circumcised between 18 months and age 4 for BS problems. And look at what happened with my son and medical care over there.

 

[Stardust27]

Yes, unfortunately, German doctors are ignorant about the normal development of the foreskin, sometimes give out totally wrong care advice and almost always prescribe circumcision as a "cure" for any problem or non-problem with the foreskin. They seem to be stuck with Gairdner's 1949 data about the foreskin having to be retractable at age 3-4. Oster and the following studies have somehow eluded them.

I don't think it was "always" that way, It probably started some time after WWII, with health care becoming more organized, regular check-ups of children more common and surgery less dangerous. It is actually possible that Gairdner was completely misunderstood here, due to different circumstances (existence/non-existence of RIC): While he proved that it was fine to leave the foreskin alone at birth and leave it to develop on its own for the UK, German doctors only perceived the age limit for retractability.

Maybe there was some influence by Americans as well, who were here for quite a while after the war. And there's also more recent American influence, because the USA have long been viewed as a great model that we strove to emulate in many aspects. Of course, circumcision has also become a beloved source of income, doctors don't want to admit that they were wrong for many years, the usual stuff. Plus there are quite well-organized circumcision fetish groups who try to influence what's being published about the foreskin. I swear some of the internet and also parenting book info couldn't be worse in the US!

Otherwise, I really have no idea why we are so incredibly backwards.

:

Stardust

 

[Lula's Mom]

Wow.