It looks like one did.
"...DeBakey, 98, is the oldest survivor of the operation he developed to repair a damaged aorta, the main artery from the heart. He is back to working nearly full days and walks increasingly longer distances, but he mainly gets around with a motorized scooter."
But he was not real confident about things:
"Dr. Michael DeBakey says he was reluctant to undergo the very heart operation he pioneered because, at his age, he feared it might leave him mentally or physically crippled, if he survived it.
'I'd rather die,' he told The New York Times in a rare interview for its Monday editions." (emphasis mine)
So a highly respected doc is reluctant to undergo a treatment he not only administered but invented because of a lack of faith in the outcome. This time things worked out okay, but there are other instances of doctors wishing to subject people to unproven & risky treatments.
Luckily though there's a counter for the sawbones at Doctors Against Handgun Injury & they call themselves Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws. At first I thought, judging solely by the name, that this was just a group of anti-gun docs trying to be stealthy but then I read their page entitled Sensible Gun Laws. An excerpt:
"Lest anyone say that Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws are a group of extremists who do not support any gun laws, we offer some examples of gun laws that we consider sensible:
* It makes sense to prohibit carrying a gun when visiting a prison inmate or entering a high security military base.
* It is sensible to prohibit visitors from carrying guns into government facilities that are likely targets of terrorists, such as the White House.
* Although such measures are usually misguided, we believe that people and businesses have the right to prohibit weapons on their private property and ask violators to leave.
* We support laws appropriating public funds for voluntary civilian firearms training." (emphasis in original)
They also aren't happy about certain medical groups urging doctors to quiz their patients about firearm ownership. They have a piece listed on their front page called "Boundary Violating Doctors What can you do if your doctor acts inappropriately?" as well as other articles refuting the anti-gun position you have heard a bit about in the medical profession. To their credit they even publish an explanation of two very pro-gun (dare I say Absolutist?) docs who refuse to join them until they change their name. DSGL doesn't seem to be Absolutist in their thinking but they seem to be much more pro than anti gun. So give them a read as they show some interesting points from medical professionals who seem to be on our side.
Posted by Publicola at December 25, 2006 08:04 PM | TrackBack