You’d think the Hippocratic Oath would have prevented the medical mistreatment of patients with body dysphoria, or that science — true to it’s own analytical nature — would have proceeded more cautiously. But ours already is a dystopian world.
Here, for reference, is a translation of the of one of the earliest surviving versions of the Oath (c. 500-300 BC):
“I swear by Apollo the Healer, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture.
“To hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents; to make him partner in my livelihood; when he is in need of money to share mine with him; to consider his family as my own brothers, and to teach them this art, if they want to learn it, without fee or indenture; to impart precept, oral instruction, and all other instruction to my own sons, the sons of my teacher, and to indentured pupils who have taken the physician’s oath, but to nobody else.
“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrong-doing. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion. But I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art. I will not use the knife, not even, verily, on sufferers from stone, but I will give place to such as are craftsmen therein.
“Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick, and I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm, especially from abusing the bodies of man or woman, bond or free. And whatsoever I shall see or hear in the course of my profession, as well as outside my profession in my intercourse with men, if it be what should not be published abroad, I will never divulge, holding such things to be holy secrets.
Now if I carry out this oath, and break it not, may I gain for ever reputation among all men for my life and for my art; but if I transgress it and forswear myself, may the opposite befall me.”
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
Yeah, the same study was done 20 years ago, with the same result, unhappiness and suicide were just as common in post surgery patients as in those who did not have the surgery.
People just don’t want to accept it as it is not politically correct, but gender reassignment does absolutely no good.
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What about people or are happy, but would prefer to be the opposite sex? Did the change make them less happy?
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It was an article I read about 20 years ago, in a dental publication with a section on news from other health care disciplines. It wasn’t all that detailed, just said that reassignment surgery did not reduce depression or suicide.
That said. I cannot imagine anyone contemplating such a radical change unless they were pretty unhappy the way they were,
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My understanding is that ethical medical professionals will counsel patients seeking all kinds of cosmetic surgery. Larger breasts, smaller noses, fewer chins, smaller bellies will not necessarily change a person’s life. If you were an introvert or suffered from clinical depression, you will not suddenly become the rage of your social circles. For the most part, your personality and mental state will be similar, just with a smaller nose.
Yet, do we want to dictate how people use medical science to change who they are physically?
The flip side of this issue are the efforts of “reprogramming“ teens or are gay. Another maligned issue that causes nothing but more anxiety and pain.
In my opinion, the drive to fit in as more normal by standards that are only subjective at best, is still strong.
And for some parts of society requiring people to fit in to be accepted or successful is equally powerful.
Finally, there is a belief that every problem is solvable with a pill or a scalpel. Why? Because it is easy and immediate.
IMHO
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RE: “Yet, do we want to dictate how people use medical science to change who they are physically?”
This statement puzzles me. In what sense would a surgeon’s refusal to perform a medically unnecessary procedure amount to dictating anything? Rather, if a doctor can be compelled to violate his Hippocratic Oath, does he not become a servant?
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…”perform a medically unnecessary procedure”…
A statement like that will put half the doctors in Los Angeles out of business.
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You are dictating if you condemn a doctor for willingly performing a medical procedure you are not comfortable with.
Besides, doctors can refuse procedures that they feel are not necessary. Parents are demanding Tommy John elbow surgery on young, aspiring baseball pitchers. The resulting scar tissue supposedly makes the joint stronger so the kid can pitch harder and faster. Sports scholarships and pro ball are the bait. Some Orthopaedic surgeons refuse. Not a big deal, parents will find another.
Is that kind of surgery on a child ethical? I would question that long before gender reassignment surgery on a willing adult.
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Attempting to become something you will never be through self mutilation to be “happy” is a severe mental illness to begin with. Do we pollute people’s bodies with heroin just because they want it? Nutcases, all of them.
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Add trans-phobic to your list of least desirable traits.
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How about trans realist for a more precise label. Not playing into your laughable “fear” conspiracy.
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Naw. You refuse to ever understand the other, regardless of which other it is, so you basically fear all that does not comport with your idea of “normal”.
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Thanks for the laugh. At least a little one.
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Keep laughing, Jack Rabbit, keep laughing. I stand by what I said and you have no defense for it. Keeps me smiling, too.
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RE: “Attempting to become something you will never be through self mutilation to be ‘happy’ is a severe mental illness to begin with.”
Even sicker are those who think that illness is normal.
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…”are those who think that illness is normal.”
Too easy to throw a Trump-Covid thing in here, so I will pass, as this is not about Trump.
Illness, like death and taxes, is part of life. It is part of the normal flow of the life cycle. Some suffer from various illnesses, others go through life without ever being sick. In actuality than, I see it is perfect health that is not normal.
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“ Do we pollute people’s bodies with heroin just because they want it?“
Big Pharma and the flooding of the market with prescription opioids is almost precisely what was done, and created the incredible surge in addiction to heroin.
Those “dealers” lived in gated communities and donated heavily to politicians and hired lobbyists to accomplish just that.
Cosmetic surgery can be abused, no doubt. But people have been doing that for as long as sharp objects have been around. The Catholic Church would castrate young boys so they could sing in a high pitch for the glory of God. But they had little say in the procedure.
At least a transgender has made a conscious, personal choice. “Nutcase” or not.
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RE: “At least a transgender has made a conscious, personal choice.”
Schizophrenics make conscious, personal choices, too, but sane people don’t pretend they are rational because of it.
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Why are you making it sound as if all it takes to get gender reassignment surgery is to walk into the local plastic surgeon and say “Hey, Doc, I’m a woman on the inside. Make me one on the outside.”
The amount of counseling and personal study and reflection that goes into a very major life choice is not taken lightly.
You posted an interesting opinion piece and a long recitation of the Hippocratic Oath. Too bad the author, and it appears yourself, made it all about the “radical left”. Read the last two paragraphs of his post if you think I am off base.
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Where in the world did you get the idea that big pharma opioid caused heroin use and addiction. Opium/heroin was abused heavily long before big pharma opioids were marketed.
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“Opium/heroin was abused heavily long before big pharma opioids were marketed”
But now Big Pharma made BILLIONS off of it. And made the problem worse.
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The bump in heroin and opioid OD deaths is directly related to the opioid prescription drug scandal.
Opioids are similar to heroin and other illicit drugs. The addicted find that heroin can be both cheaper and easier to get than the prescription varieties like OxyContin. Particularly since the feds have tightened the scrutiny on doctors and prescription opioids.
Many states have sued, and won, huge settlements for the costs of addiction and Big Pharmas role in it.
If you want a good source for just one state, West Virginia, here is a link to the journalist and the paper that helped break the scandal.
https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/eric-eyre
The Sackler family owned Purdue Pharma and tried to hide billions after it became obvious they and their distributors pumped millions of pill in tiny hamlets, crooked pharmacies and pill mill doctors.
This is a huge problem. And it was directly caused by pharmaceutical companies purposefully creating addicts for sales of drugs. They even had “data” that supposedly showed prescription opioids were not addicting and told doctors, legitimate and pill pushers, it was safe for pain.
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I stand by my question and original statement. Regardless of heroin or opioid addiction causes, do we give it to people just because they want it to make them “happy”, conscious choice or not? We know the answer and mutilating people is nothing more than the new public pollutant courtesy of wacko doctors and liberal government via my tax money.
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Not my circus. Not my monkeys…or however that proverb is written.
When all is said and done? This is between the patient, their doctor(s) and is none of my business.
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I’d like to think you are correct. However the author of the piece feels otherwise.
“For the left, anything that upsets the old order and makes way for the new is worth destroying lives. After all, what’s one individual’s happiness when balanced against a socialist paradise?”
It is all about politics, and has little to do with actual individuals.
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I agree that it is not my business to deprive anyone of their choice, though I do think that as a matter of informed consent, patients should be informed of the experience of others who have taken that road.
At the same time, it is not my business to compel a surgeon to preform a procedure he finds unethical, nor to place a financial burden on others to provide it.
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“…patients should be informed of the experience of others who have taken that road.”
I would guess that just about every transgender has gone to counseling and support groups long before undergoing surgery.
I have known as clients, acquaintances and friends people who are gay. Every single one said they were not happy or even comfortable in life until they came out. There is no reason to condemn gender dysphoria folks to a life of secrecy or deceit just because we are uncomfortable with the condition or it’s possible resolution.
We go to incredible lengths and costs to repair birth defects that are visible or otherwise disabling. We are still uncomfortable with not just mental aberrations, but also differences in thinking.
Every society in recorded history had gays or lesbians in the mix. I submit that is the norm. Gender dysphoria is just another expression of same sex attraction from a different angle.
We hold dearly that everyone has a right to “pursue happiness”. But we also don’t make any guarantees. So if surgery fails that person, at least they had an opportunity.
IMHO
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From a layman’s viewpoint, it appears that the author’s friend should have continued taking the estrogen. “Once on the estrogen, Heyer felt happier.”
…” the doctors backed him off the high estrogen doses. Suddenly, all the feelings of deep unhappiness that the drugs and surgery were supposed to fix came flooding back.”
Maybe it would make more sense to keep transgendered persons (and they are people) on hormone therapies, post-surgery, to prevent the feelings of deep unhappiness. Estrogen (and testosterone) are prescribed all of the time. Some can also be purchased over the counter at local vitamin shops.
I think the author @ AT, and those that gloat along with him about the unhappiness of others, should take another look at post-surgical therapies for those who choose surgical reassignment. same goes for those who retracted their initial findings.
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After male to female reassignment surgery, it is normal to reduce estrogen doses as the surgery reduces the need to overcome testosterone levels.
If you continued the high doses after surgery you would find a high incidence on breast cancer(yes, biological males can get that.)
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I can see your point. However, a lower dosage of estrogen could be a solution as, I believe that testosterone is still being produced.
And, believe me, I am quite aware of male breast cancer. I was screened for it during my colo-rectal treatments. I would have blamed my wife for that. As it stands, I think maybe the Zantac I took for well over 12 years contributed to my particular cancer. Genetic testing ruled that out, even though the first marker was Ashkenazi Jew, which I am 49%, by 23andme.
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Approve or disapprove based upon (various) reasons?
This is a decision which should be between the person (patient) and his/her doctors.
It’s none of my business if he becomes a she (or vice versa) any more than it’s anyone’s business whom I vote for, whether or not I own weapons, am I a hetero/homo sexual, left handed or right handed, where I worship, what my bowling handicap is…etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
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