Beware Doctor’s Bedside Manner
Ann Gerber
HE MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE but he might steal your wife!
MEDICINE ISN’T ALL MEDICS THINK ABOUT. A SURVEY OF 10,000 PHYSICIANS NATIONWIDE FOUND THAT 11.7 PER CENT admitted they could become romantically involved or sexually active with patients. Most of these men confided they would wait at least six months after treating a woman to make a move.
ANOTHER 4.5 PER CENT IN THIS WEBMD SURVEY revealed they were open to affairs depending on the circumstances.
REASSURING IS THE FACT THAT 83.3 PER CENT of the doctors thought mixing love and medicine was a bad idea and “totally exploitative.”
GYNECOLOGISTS WERE NOT SURVEYED AS A UNIQUE SEGMENT but they should have been. The intimate nature of their relationship to patients must be considered. (It has been said that a male gynecologist is like an auto mechanic who has never owned a car.)
WE KNOW OF SEVERAL DIVORCES where husbands questioned the paternity of their children, after noting they resembled the gynecologist and not them. In most of these cases, the divorced wives later married their doctors.
IN ONE CASE THE HUSBAND BECAME SUSPICIOUS because his wife’s medic was “always making house calls,” in some cases four times a week. “My kids weren’t sick, ” he told us, “so I questioned his motives. They admitted their affair and tore my life apart. We divorced and he moved into my house. After a time I accepted that my last two kids were really his – - they looked just like him. I demanded DNA testing because the child support payments were huge. Before we went further, the doctor admitted they were his and ended the drama.”
OTHER ETHICAL QUESTIONS ANSWERED in the survey of 10,000 were “would you prolong life supports even if futile, to placate the family?” More than 20 per cent said “yes.”
WOULD YOU FALSIFY A PATIENT’S CONDITION TO GET INSURANCE MONEY? MORE THAN 16 PER CENT ADMITTED THEY WOULD LIE.
WOULD YOU COVER UP A MISTAKE THAT HARMED THE PATIENT? Only 5 per cent said they could take this action.
PLAYING GOD AND MAKING LIFE AND DEATH DECISIONS weigh on medics’ minds and hearts. And some patients can make them forget their good intentions.
GOT A PROBLEM WITH THIS? Take two aspirins and call me in the morning.
GOSSIP, GOSSIP, GOSSIP
WHO IS THE DRUNKEN BUM OF A HUSBAND whose wife is always black and blue from his painful habit of beating her with a fry pan? She tells concerned friends she fell down the stairs, or tripped over the dog, or walked into a lightpost. But one day she might pick up the family shotgun, or a knife, or a razor.
WHO IS THE DIVORCEE found naked and drugged out of her mind, outside the door of a well known bachelor’s condo in the wee hours of the morning? Doormen covered her and got her home safely.
REMEMBER THOSE TV ADS FOR CIGARETTES that showed hunky types like the Malboro cowboy lighting up? The last such ad was shown on Jan. 1, 1971…..CHINA is the world’s biggest market for cigarettes, with 18 trillion sold in a year. Packs cost 30 cents with 67 per cent of males smoking, or about 360 million people…..In the book, “The Cigarette Box,” it reports that in Germany the warning on packs reads “Smoking can lead to a slow and painful death.” In Japan, it says “It might damage your health. Try not to smoke too much. Be sure to observe smokers’ etiquette.”
NO BURGERS FOR STARS who are vegetarian. Their ranks include Alec Baldwin, Alicia Silverstone, Russell Brand, Natalie Portman, Pamela Anderson, Prince.
ALEC BALDWIN
THE CHIC SMALL JUDITH LEIBER BAGS, jeweled and elegant, always had the cache of being glitzy, expensive and just roomy enough for a key, a lipstick and a hundred dollar bill. Today, with hard times, they are just large enough for a key, a condom and a $10 bill. Pals of designer Leiber are Bernice Kurtzman and Vicki Mills……SIGNS OF THE TIMES. Men go into a drugstore and whisper, “Give me a package of cigarettes.” Then in a loud voice, “Give me a package of condoms.”
SINGER MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, married to Chicagoan Terry Flannery, celebrated his 54th birthday recently at his namesake nightclub in New York City with fellow entertainer Barbara Cook. Cheering him on were Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford, Doris Roberts,Regis Philbin and Judge Judy. The actress Gina Lollobrigida was a surprise guest at the Friar’s Toast for cabaret artist Feinstein. The Italian screen siren wowed guests with a fab emerald and diamond necklace set in gold. In the audience were David Hyde Pierce, Danny Aiello, Julie Buddbesides the comics roasting/toasting Michael. (GINA is a longtime friend of the real estate Gouletas family.)
MICHAEL FEINSTEIN AND TERRY FLANNERY
GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA
NICK GOULETAS AND GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA IN 1990
CHICAGO DESIGNERS HAVE THE SUPPORT OF THE APPAREL INDUSTRY FOUNDATION which sponsors showcases for them throughout the year. At the last “meet the designers” benefit, at the Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel, supporters included: ROSE BECKER, BEV BLETTNER, SHERRILL BODINE, CHERYL BOLLIMGER, TREOPIA CANNON, SCOTT CARLSON, COOKIE COHEN, GREGG FISHMAN, DOROTHY FULLER, SUSAN GLICK, ANDREW GLOYESKE, SUSAN GOHL, SHERRY HOLSON, HAZEL BARR, RIAN WALKER, SUSANNA NEGOVAN, TINA KOEGEL, DONNA LA PIETRA, WHITNEY LASKY, PEGGY LOMBARDO, THE KURT MULLERS, DENNIS MINKEL.
TWENTY-FIVE CREATORS of innovative women’s, men’s and children’s wear; plus accessories, millinery, boast these VIPs as boosters: VICTOR SKREBNESKI, DORI WILSON, VONITA REESCER, MARIA PAPPAS, TONY ROSSI, THE ROBERT ZENTNERS, PEGGY MARTAY, DR.STACIE MC CLANE, IRENE MICHAELS, SUSAN MC CULLOUGH, HELEN NEWMAN, DONNA LEAK, SALLY JO MORRIS, STANLEY PAUL, RALONDA ROGERS, THE DAVID RUBINS.
WHAT WAS TOUGH GUY ACTOR SYLVESTER STALLONE’S FIRST JOB? Selling ice cream? Working as a nanny? No way. His first paycheck came from cleaning out lions’ cages. (Photo by Linda Matlow/Pix Int)
SYLVESTER STALLONE
YOU ARE NOT IN JAIL, but one in every 100 Americans is incarcerated. That’s the ugly word from the Pew Center report that tracks the surge in inmate population. States paid more than $49 billion on correction last year.
DISADVANTAGED KIDS GET A CHANCE AT SUCCESS thanks to the hard work of the SGA Youth and Family Services. It has been serving our area for 99 years. Goal is to support the emotional and social development of adolescents and young adults by providing therapy, prevention and services for individuals and families.
Author Paul Tough who writes about poverty, education and the achievement gap spoke to the group at their last benefit. Stanley Weinberger, lawyer and civic leader, received the Jean Meltzer Award.
SUSANA MAROTTA IS SGA PRESIDENT and Angela Barnes is board chair. Supporters include: JAMES FORHAN, THE ROBERT NOONANS, JACK ALBIN, LEE ALLISON, JOHN GOODMAN, STEVEN GRAY, MARILYN HELMHOLZ, ELAINE FIFFER, LYNN SMALL, JAMES PASS, JAMES HILL lll, DONALD BELGRAD, MARY CAMPBELL, LUIS COLLADO, JOHN CULTRA, JOE FELDMAN, MARY KAY SULLIVAN, MELINDA MOLLOY.
AUTHOR OF “WORSE THAN WAR: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity,” Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, spoke at Spertus Institute for theFacing History and Ourselves members in partnership with the Allstate Foundation. He discussed Rwanda, Bosnia, the Hollocaust, etc., as part of the national community conversations series. Bonnie Oberman is local director of Facing History and Ourselves. Tom Wilson is CEO of Allstate Corp.
BONNIE OBERMAN, TOM WILSON AND DANIEL GOLDHAGEN
“DOG JACK” WAS A TRUE, POIGNANT STORY made into a film that received much applause at the Gene Siskel Theater. It tells the true tale of “Jack,” a deaf pitbull, who followed his master,a slave, 14, into battle in the civil war. The dog who played “Jack,” was Piglet, found in a dumpster, and he was deaf. Hand signals were used to direct him. A local actor, Frank Kasy, also a professional artist, was in the film with Ben Gardner and Lou Gosset Jr. The flick follows the book by Florence Biros in retlling of their adventures. “Jack” was exchanged for a Confederate prisoner after he was captured, and hailed as a hero.
“FOOTBALL PLAYERS, LIKE PROSTITUTES, ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF RUINING THEIR BODIES FOR THE PLEASURE OF STRANGERS.” – -
MERLE KESSLER
[email protected]…..847-677-2232
