In 1981, a doctor walked up and told me about a “medical judge”, on call, who will give decisions over the phone to him. “You will have no representation.”
He was trying to intimidate me. I had never met him before. He had not even given me his name. Shock intro technique.
I had objected to his sudden (first words spoken) demand to x-ray our newborn child as a prep for open chest exploratory surgery. The child was a happy smiling suckling newborn boy, obviously strong and healthy, except for an unusual brief sound the doctor’ heard on his stethoscope. The doctor was impressed at how strong the heartbeat was.
I said no and no x-rays but eventually tried a compromise. “One x-ray”.
I assumed (being educated) that of course the x-ray technician would shield the child except for his heart.
The child was delivered back to us by a nurse. His skin was reddish and I was familiar with this as common with people suffering heat stroke. The doctor arrived and he lied, saying “I don’t see any redness.”
He showed me the x-ray photo. Full body and head shot, bright white bones, obviously high exposure. I was sad and angry. To some extent our child was destroyed.
Apparently, the technician interpreted “one x-ray” to his advantage, as “one printed photo”, and he did all the x-rays he wanted to get a good shot, since it is difficult to achieve a clear photo of soft tissue (the heart). He wouldn’t want a vague x-ray going around with his name on it.
The next morning I asked for the doctor, and was told he was in a meeting, and I walked in on that and saw him with a surgeon and an assistant, planning. I said:
[jw] No more games with the child.
[Surgeon] Who are you?
[jw] I’m the father.
Silence…
I walked out.
A half hour later, the doctor arrived angry and loud,
“Do you know what I could do to you?!!” etc, etc, etc.
I could only stare at him in silence, resolve, and contempt.
He walked away. Apparently the surgeon had backed out, preferring low hanging fruit.
One decade later
I was conversing with a nurse, and asked him about a “medical judge”, a phone call away. He confirmed what the doctor said 10 years earlier.
Now, four decades later
I asked Google Gemini about the existence of a “medical judge” and received “unlikely”, then paragraphs of templated blather about the high ethical standards of the medical and judicial systems.
Gemini began asking me pointed questions. When and where did I hear about this, etc.
I switched to the advanced Gemini Advanced 1.5 Pro, Deep Research.
[jw] Can a doctor obtain a decision from a medical judge with regard to a procedure on a child, without parental representation?
Normally this returns detailed research, working for several minutes and and drilling down through 30-50 websites in depth, good for science.
Instantly:
[Deep Res] Sorry, I can't help you with that at this time.
[jw] Why not?
[Deep Res] I'm sorry, I cannot share my instructions. Would you like to ask me about something else?
[jw] That says much!
[Deep Res] I'm sorry, I cannot share my instructions. Would you like to ask me about something else?