Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Who Are the Torture Doctors?



JAMA this month has commentary piece on the ethical failure of physicians in the CIA Office of Medical Services (OMS) who helped organize, calibrate, and supervise the torture of unarmed, often innocent prisoners at Guantanamo. The principle of "do no harm" was abrogated by these lackey yahoos as they provided a professional cover to acts universally condemned throughout modern history as torture by all civilized nations.

My question is: Who are these doctors? What are their names? Are any of them practicing medicine in our country? When is anyone going to be held accountable for the despicable, embarassing, morally devastating era of American torture?

The American Psychological Association has already mounted an attempt to strip the license of a Texas pyschologist who participated in the "enhanced interrogation" of Abu Zubaydah:
If any psychologist who was a member of the APA were found to have committed the acts alleged against Mitchell, "he or she would be expelled from the APA membership," according to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. APA spokeswoman Rhea Farberman confirmed its contents.

We know that Captain John Edmondson, the former Commander of the Gitmo Naval Hospital, is on record as admitting that he countenanced the forced feeding of inmates on hunger strike (an ethical lapse condemned by 262 signatories to a letter to the editor in Lancet).

What else can Captain Edmondson admit to? Is he practicing emergency medicine now as a civilian? How many of the other doctors at Gitmo are now enjoying lucrative private practice careers? Have they all done as well as former Navy Surgeon General Donald Arthur (who now commands a salary north of $400,000 working as the chief medical officer for MainLine health)?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK Buckeye, now your just gettin Silly, have your CRNA check the scavenging system, and when she gives you a blank look tell her you need some good stock tips from her attending. then ask him to check it.
Its what sucks the extra Nitrous,Volatile Anesthetics, and farts so noone but the patient falls asleep in the OR.
and I know your just bitter cause Lebron dropped you on national TV, your Indians are 87 games out of first, the Browns haven't been to a Superbowl since, umm never, and you know your Ohio State Buckeyes would finish 5th in the SEC West. OK, maybe 4th.
By pure coincidence, I know Dr. Edmonson, he was LT Edmonson then, and he's a great guy.
What was he supposed to do with starving terrorists??? Shoot em in the head like I'd have done???
I practiced at Guantanamo too, in 1992 when all they had there was starving Haitians, and guess what?? We fed them, sometimes with NG tubes if thats what it took..
Usually we had the opposite problem, keeping them from eating napkins, styrofoam cups, platic, they don't get alot to eat in Haiti...
and as far as names, you'll have to torture me to get any...See, sometimes torture, I mean, "Enhanced Interrogation" comes in handy.

Frank "We're not shocking your balls, we're checking your depth of Neuromuscular blockade" Drackman

Ted said...

Buckeye, are you serious? Are your thoughts that deranged that the mere association with Gitmo means that one should no longer be allowed to practice medicine?

Jeffrey Parks MD FACS said...

Well, Ted, if those physicians participated in any way in the torture and abuse of prisoners...then yes. All you have to do is reveal the names of the docs involved and ask them under oath.

Anonymous said...

Don't wanta bust your bubble, but these Torture Doctors all work for the Torture President,
Barak Hussein Obama(Peace be upon Him)
Course it might be a little embarassing prosecuting doctors for carrying out your orders.
and Guantanamo's still open by the way, More A-rabs than a line of Taxi's outside JFK.
I know, I know, he's outsourced the Torture to the guys who invented it, doesn't mean it ain't happenin, which is a good thing.

Frank "I'd rather be torturing Terror-ists" Drackman

Jeffrey Parks MD FACS said...

Frank-
You actually make a great point. By refusing to investigate the war criminals of the previous admin, Obama has now made Gitmo and torture and denial of habeas corpus his own legacy.