by Walter Brasch
It took a lot of outrage by scientists, physicians,
and the public, but a gynecologist in Boston will not lose her board
certification.
The American Board of Obstetrics and
Gynecology had planned to remove Dr. Elizabeth Stier as board-certified.
Now, you may think that Dr. Stier has a
string of malpractice suits after her name. Or that she didn’t pass critical
examinations for her specialty. Or that, maybe, she just didn’t take required
courses to keep her certification.
Actually, Dr. Stier is an extremely
competent physician. She’s also an associate professor at the Boston University
School of Medicine. Her problem is that in the course of some of her
ground-breaking research about anal cancer, she treated men.
That’s right. The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology had said that to get its stamp of approval, its members must treat only women. It magnanimously allowed a few rare exceptions—emergency care, family planning, fertility testing for man and woman couples, and the treatment of a sexually-transmitted disease, but only if the male was a partner of a female patient already being treated by the gynecologist.
That’s right. The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology had said that to get its stamp of approval, its members must treat only women. It magnanimously allowed a few rare exceptions—emergency care, family planning, fertility testing for man and woman couples, and the treatment of a sexually-transmitted disease, but only if the male was a partner of a female patient already being treated by the gynecologist.
