Should Gynecologists be Allowed to Treat Men?

[The Straight Story]

Should Gynecologists be Allowed to Treat Men?


The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology has ordered all OB/GYN physicians in the United States to stop treating male patients, including those diagnosed with cancer.

First announced in September, the decision has sparked a heated debate within the medical profession, and threatened the continuation of numerous studies and clinical trials.

But the group has no intention of changing its position, according to Dr. Kenneth L. Noller, the board’s director of evaluation.

Another official, executive director Dr. Larry C. Gilstrap, told The New York Times that OB/GYNs need to get back to focusing on problems with women’s reproductive system, and allow other doctors to help men who have increasingly turned to gynecologists in recent years.

He explained that the board’s decision was prompted by a desire to counter the tarnishing of the OB/GYN specialty’s image “by members who had strayed into moneymaking sidelines, like testosterone therapy for men, and liposuction and other cosmetic procedures for both women and men,” wrote the Times’ Denise Grady.

http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/should-gynecologists-be-allowed-to-treat-men-131126?news=851760&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[MADem]

1. I don't see how, if they are board certified in another speciality, that they can be prevented

from treating a patient on the basis of sex.

Why are OB/GYNs doing lipo, though?

As for hormone therapy, there are studies being done that say that kind of thing can be problematic--heart disease, cancer, etc. I'd be wary, absent a strong medical--not social or "I wanna be young again" reason...!

[hlthe2b]

2. Just because a MD has specialty training, does not negate their "general" training...

I think this is nuts... While most adults would not go to a pediatrician and most pediatricians would not treat adults (unless an emergency setting), to outlaw a physician from treating any patient is nuts. Discouraging treating patients outside the specialty is one thing... Trying to ban it, is quite another.

AMA ought to step in (but given how ridiculously political it is, I doubt they will).

As to the hormonal treatment excesses or liposuction, "standard of care" ought to be used to take care of this problem.... i.e., from a malpractice point of view, practicing these procedures outside specialty training usually does jack up malpractice premiums and leave a physcian VERY vulnerable to lawsuit.

[KitSileya]

3. Well, considering that some men have uteri

or other parts of "female" reproductive organs, this may cause trouble for some men. As many know, not all babies can be wrapped in a pink or a blue blanket immediately after birth (such a horrid custom) and many discover later in life that their reproductive organs don't match the simplistic drawings in sex ed books. And that doesn't even take into consideration transmen who may have need of OB/GYNs.

[jberryhill]

4. "Allowed"?

[MineralMan]

5. Some physicians are board-certified in more than

one specialty. Others are not board-certified at all. In every state I know of, licensed MDs can do as they please with regard to medical care. The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology has no legal authority over anyone, not even its members. It can kick their butts out of the group, take away their certification, but they can still practice as they please, legally.

[HappyMe]

6. What the hell is with 'allowed'?

I don't think I would go to an ob-gyn for any cosmetic procedures.