Sex change doctor rushed treatments, GMC rules

[Suzy]

Guardian Unlimited
by David Batty

The General Medical Council (GMC) today declared that the UK's top expert on transsexualism inappropriately rushed patients into sex changing treatments.

Its inquiry into the consultant psychiatrist Dr Russell Reid found that he gave five patients hormones too soon and referred them for genital surgery without an adequate assessment of their health or proof that they were transsexuals.

The GMC disciplinary panel said Dr Reid's treatment of the patients, referred to only as B, C, D, E and F, was inappropriate, not in their best interests and in breach of international guidelines on the treatment of transsexuals.

[Rachael]

erm? what if they were? nobody worked that out?

and a bit of bloody rushing from the NHS wouldnt go amis... maybe if they rushed, i wouldnt be waiting 6 years JUST to get assessed...
i dont mind BEING assessed and it taking a while, but the wait for it? do they want me to die before they have to spend money on me? this drives me nuts...

[Emerald]

I'm not surprised. The individuals cited in this case were among the worst victims. Dr. Reid had other patients who were provided with rushed and negligent treatment. I know one of Dr. Reid's former patients in RL. Fortunately, Sie is not one of the cases mentioned in the article. Sie realized sie had been incorrectly diagnosed to be transsexual by Dr. Reid and stopped taking the HRT within one month. HRT was prescribed by Dr. Reid on hir one and only gender therapy appointment to address hir gender issues. One appointment, a short 20 minuite talk, no medical tests, and sie walked out the door with a script and a referral for genital surgery pronto.

As we all know, not everyone with gender variance needs SRS or even HRT to cope with the gender issues, and NO ONE should be diagnosed in a single therapy session. I'm sure Russell Reid was a blessing for many desperate and grateful post-SRS Transsexuals, but his transsexual diagnosis for those who were not TS is a nightmare. If they didn't have severe GID before, they certainly do now.

-Emerald

[Rachael]

for £200 quid, id expect hrt on my first visit!
if someone is blatently trans, then it doesnt require hours of therapy,
im very sane, i dont need counceling, i need to be diagnosed and treated.
Sadly Reid was my only hope of getting on the program...
now i must wait half a decade to get seen....
brilliant

[Lori]

Guardian Unlimited
by David Batty

an adequate assessment of their health or proof that they were transsexuals.

They can prove it now? What test? How? I want in on this!!!

[Keira]

My take on this is this is that its a witchunt.
I'm pretty sure there are plenty of others people who have
"regretted" their decision and they won't go after the SOC
because they are the ones that fooled it and if you are fooling
the SOC, YOU are to blame for that because the medical system covered their ass so it can't be them.

Reid,  because he didn't follow the shinny stamp of the SOC makes a convenient target for those who can't live up to their own decisions.

There are countless people who go through normal plastic surgery (rhinoplasty has one of the biggest "regrets" percentage ever) who regret it even if the results are seemingly normal. Again, these people don't have another person to blame than themselves so you don't hear about it. They just have to live with their mistakes, no matter how big, and move on.

Personnal responsibility is a fading art this if you ask me.

[Rachael]

I dont think you could MAKE someone take hrt, or get grs unless they wanted to do it tbh... if they regret it now, its cos they played the system, i agree. The nhs just wants to justify its MASSIVE waiting times for the GIC process, where as a PRIVATE doc can see paitents efficiently makes them look VERY BAD imo... the speed he goes through people HELPING, compared to years waiting for the nhs to fidget about with thier clipboard, um and ar, and eventually decide...

[Thundra]

This is why nobody should have the ability to "assess" whether someone should have surgery or not. It puts too much power in the hands of the caregiver, and takes it out of the hands of the patient. In the end, it is always the patient that makes the choice as to whether they go for whatever surgery. These people abdicated their right and ability to choose their course of action, and placed it into the hands of someone else, and now they are paying the price.

People need to take responsibility for their actions. Notice that one person wants to collect a monetary settlement -- how convenient for them, to blame somebody else for their choice.
This current system punishes those that do not need to be assessed, in favor of those like these people that slip through the cracks anyway. Becoming JC? That person was headed for a fall no matter what they did.

This situation has little to do with the care of the patient, and much to do about liability issues. As in who gets sued for what amount?

[Rachael]

Might i point out that it requires two therapists letters to get GRS, and if they fooled Reid, theres another therapist they fooled to get thier GRS.
thing is, apparently, rushing onto HRT, not ops.