Among the incongruencies in Marin are its reputation of enlightened education and social attitudes…read morewhile I have encountered among certain people in the medical institution an unmistakeable demeaning objectification and exploitation of, for example, women, and disregard of "Primum non nocere," that is, "First, do no harm." One would expect to encounter such attitudes in some backwater, and manifested only in men--- but over the years I have on four occasions encountered misogyny among female professionals, including doctors and lawyers
Commonly, such maltreatment occurs outside the presence of witnesses, as in the instance of my experience that I recount here.
Not only extremely rude and disrespectful to the point of insulting, when I refused mammography she caused injury with use of extreme force with her fingers in a breast exam, and the effect was long-term lumps and bruises, unlike any of the several such exams administered by prior doctors. She also recounted a brief story of a woman who ignored a lump near the nipple and died as a result, while that particular location was precisely where she inflicted, likely not coincidentally, the worst, longest-lasting bruising.
As damaging in the longterm, was the practice of deceit which I do not doubt was ill- motivated --- I asked her about her written order referring me to the Marin General clinic for breast imaging, she used intentionally ambiguous language in her reply, falsely implying that the breast clinic would not require a mammogram as a condition of receiving a breast MRI or ultrasound. When I called the breast clinic, I was officiously told by their front desk person that a mammogram was required as condition to receiving an MRI or ultrasound. In short, manipulative, arrogant, self-serving and expedient, without regard to harm they inflict on women for whom mammography can produce false negatives and false positives.
It was my right as a patient to request a valid screening test that does not entail use of low-dose ionizing radiation which has been proven to damage tumor suppressor DNA and to increase, not decrease, the risk of developing breast cancer. Nor did a certain member of the board physician at Marin General nor the doctor directing the hospital's breast care clinic assist me to obtain ultrasound or MRI, despite the fact that mammography has extremely low validity for women with very dense breast tissue.
In all, it is too obvious that the high rate of breast cancer in Marin County and in other regions where women have a high rate of medical insurance, is due to the greed of the highly profitable radiation industry and to practitioners who are of money-driven, extremely low, ethical mentality.... A deadly combination:
Lumniczky K, Low dose ionizing radiation effects on the immune system. Environ Int. 2021 Apr;149:106212.
"The central conclusion is that ionizing radiation fundamentally and durably reshapes the immune system.
Low doses may permanently alter immune fitness and therefore accelerate immune senescence and pave the way for a wide spectrum of possible pathophysiological events, including early-onset of age-related degenerative disorders and cancer."
The societal expectation of medicine is that it is a benevolent profession, and this is necessarily the norm because the quality of its standards of practice is inextricably linked with human survival. When someone practicing medicine abusively exploits the imbalance of power between doctor and patient, it is a social disservice. After all, without an M.D., the patient is not legally permitted to order diagnostic tests and prescribe remedies, however much such interventions are needed.
There is no doubt that this doctor treats obstetric patients and willingly misled patients far better, with a display of courtesy, as these bring Revenue.
