I don’t know if you may have heard of Dr. Olive Williams and Dr. Barbara Heartwell, the surgeons who has performed mastectomies on patients who did not need them, and were in fact breast- cancer free. Dr.Heartwell now ‘voluntarily’ resigned, but, I cannot but think of the women who were given mastectomies (removing the breats) by mistake, how can they get over that? By the way, I must add, she was considered one of the best surgeons in Windsor. She read the women’s needle biopsy (where they get samples of cells in the breast through a needle to assess them to see if they are cancerous or not) reports wrong, and thus performed an incorrect surgery; that’s just unacceptable! This reminds me of that plastic surgeon last year who didn’t call the ambulance when her patient was bleeding, and in the end the patient died. This utter disregard for a patient’s health is just disgusting. Doctor’s are suppose to save lives, and do what they can to make someone’s life better, both physically and emotionally, they are not suppose to be their source of pain and grief.
Although the statistics may be higher in other parts of the world, according to the Canada Cancer Society, in Canada 1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer. 437 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every week, this article makes me questions how many of them actually have breast cancer. 80% of lumps in the breast are benign, meaning non-cancerous, so I think more awareness needs to be raised on the options available, and that a women who is diagnosed with breast cancer should seek a second, third, and fourth opinion. A mastectomy isn’t always needed, and women think that’s the solution, but it’s not, do your research before and after seeing a doctor, it can save your health.
You can read more about this story here on the Montreal Gazette: Former patients stand by embattled surgeon
Tags: News
