A surgeon in a hospital in Cittiglio, Italy, has recently been suspended after someone accused him of going on a homophobic diatribe on a patient that he was operating on, according to Pink News.
While performing surgery on the patient, the surgeon said ““It is not fair that during this period of emergency I should have to waste time operating on these f*****s.” The period of emergency that he’s referring to is COVID-19 which is definitely a big deal, but I’m assuming the surgeon took an oath to heal patients regardless of sexual orientation or whether or not the world is in the middle of a pandemic, so his complaints about not wanting to operate on a gay patient definitely goes against the medical code of ethics.
After hearing the hateful comment, a person who was also in the operating theater asked if the surgeon has a problem with LGBT people. The surgeon ordered him to leave the room.
Giovanni Boschini, the president of Arcigay Varese, which is a charity organization that focuses on the well-being and health of LGBT people, thanked the person who filed the initial complaint and also expressed gratitude that they didn’t stay silent about this incident. The comment mentioned that everyone in the operating theater was “astonished” and “stupefied” by the surgeon’s hateful words. He also said that “it would also be useful to start a training course and for this reason we are available to collaborate with the hospital for diversity education courses, so that no other patient can experience a similar mishap again.” Diversity education courses can definitely be beneficial to anyone who may not know the impact of their words on certain people, but I’m not sure it will do much good for the surgeon because he seems to have some deep-rooted issues with LGBT individuals.
The Varese Medical Association is carrying out an investigation and the president of the Italian Federation of Surgeons, Filippo Agnelli, said that if the complaint is proven to be true, the surgeon will face “harsh sanctions.” He also mentioned that doctors and surgeons may be overworked and exhausted due to COVID-19 but that should not be an excuse for the abhorrent behavior.
This incident proves that although doctors and surgeons swore to heal their patients, they are not immune to the bias and bigotry that surrounds them. Was it right for this surgeon to be suspended? Or was that an overreaction?
Source: Pink News