Are there aspects of healthcare that doctors are hesitant to reveal to patients?

 Are there aspects of healthcare that doctors are hesitant to reveal to patients?

Just the other week — literally less than seven days ago — it happened again.

My girlfriend, a urologist, was called in because something wasn’t right.

A female patient was feeling extremely unwell, and stool was leaking from her vagina. The urologist examined her — the patient had just come from the OB/GYN — and knew almost immediately what had happened. Again.

After opening the patient up, the diagnosis was confirmed: a rectovaginal fistula — a hole between the rectum and the vagina that allowed fecal matter to pass through the wrong passage.

And once again, it was the OB/GYN himself who had caused it — the result of a dangerously careless surgical error.

This particular physician has a reputation for repeatedly taking on procedures beyond his capability, often requiring urologists or general surgeons to step in — sometimes during surgery, sometimes days later — to fix life-threatening mistakes.

And he continues to operate. Without pause. Without apparent self-reflection.

Despite a long history of errors, complications, and near-catastrophes, he remains unshaken in his belief in his own competence — even when others have to clean up the aftermath.

Sadly, he's not the only one.

Many (though certainly not all) OB/GYNs are known for taking on surgeries they may not be adequately trained for. In some circles, it’s even an open secret — often whispered behind closed doors: a widespread lack of precise anatomical understanding, especially when it comes to more complex procedures.

And one of my girlfriend’s colleagues is reportedly even more reckless.

But no matter how many complications arise, no matter how many interventions are needed to repair the damage, there’s always a next patient.

SOURCE:

“Treatise on Gynæcology: Medical and Surgical” (1891), S. J. Pozzi and B. H. Wells, New York: W. Wood. Wellcome Library. (Public domain)