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Jan 31, 2023·edited Jan 31, 2023

Glad to see another legal professional willing to speak openly about this issue. I wonder why we ponder "informed consent" before sorting out "medical necessity" and medical ethics for what would otherwise be called iatrogenic bodily harm by a medical professional (in short, medical malpractice).

How and when did the medical profession decide that mental health conditions like body dysmorphia and body integrity disorder ought to be treated surgically? Would a plastic surgeon perform liposuction on an anorexic teenager, even if she were on her deathbed as a result of self-starvation? Does the medical profession condone amputation of healthy limbs to satisfy the delusions of a patient suffering from what was previously described as "apotemnophilia" or "xenomelia"? Would oncologists subject a patient to chemotherapy or radiation treatment when they cannot persuade the patient that s/he does not have cancer? Would a dentist extract a healthy tooth from the mouth of a patient convinced he has a cavity? Yes we are surrounded by medical "professionals" willing to treat minors - typically kids with mental health or cognitive co-morbidities and/or homosexual teens having difficulty coming to terms with their sexual orientation - with drugs that can cause numerous reported adverse health consequences (ranging from osteoporosis to sexual dysfunction to sterility, to name but a few).

It's time for the medical profession to take responsibility for the limits of its capacity to ameliorate the distress of some patients with significant mental health conditions - or delusions, and for the consequences of ideological capture by certain political lobby groups.

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Excellent article. I wish you every success in helping to stamp out the anathema that's going on today.

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Excellent, well written blueprint for med mal cases against providers experimenting o a vulnerable population.

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