Don’t Keep Patients in the Dark About Crucial Treatments

Target: Mark Butler, Australia’s Minister for Health and Aged Care

Goal: Advocate for more transparent disclosure of healthcare professionals’ conflicts of interest.

Two patients have accused an Australian surgeon of causing them pain, suffering, and lingering physical defects. The patients allege the surgeon persuaded them into having a jaw prosthesis installed without informing them of the risks or following proper post-operative protocols. As a result, the patients reportedly went through multiple dislocations of the device (and a subsequent host of symptoms) that required more surgeries. The surgeon was sued and has since been reprimanded by the organization overseeing his practice.

This incident, however, reflects a broader trend. The surgeon in question was apparently directly involved in the founding and manufacturing of the seemingly defective prosthesis. The patients allege he also failed to disclose the vested interest he had in promoting and using the device. In at least one instance, the patient claims that the surgeon falsely led her to believe that the prosthesis was her only real treatment option.

Such overlap between treatments and treatment devices and the physicians who lobby for these products is commonplace, yet patients often have no knowledge of these clear conflicts of interest. Sign the petition below to urge Australia’s top medical leaders to set a better and more transparent standard that can serve as a global model.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Minister Butler,

The case of Melbourne’s Dr. George Dimitroulis, a surgeon accused of deceiving his patients and misrepresenting his close ties to a treatment approach that reportedly cost them dearly, serves as a clear example of the dangers of lacking transparency. This surgeon allegedly manipulated his patients into using a jaw prosthesis that he was responsible for creating. When the prosthesis seemingly failed multiple times, the patients reportedly suffered debilitating and perhaps life-long effects.

Please take an important step for patient advocacy in Australia and around the world by ensuring physicians fully disclose to their patients all potential conflicts of interest in treatment recommendations.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Kaplan Art


One Comment

  1. This doctor has caused a lifetime of harm. He did this to promote his devices and rake in money. It’s always about money. Now he needs to pay, with his money, to help his victims. His victims need to feel better and although money can not cure it may be able to make them more comfortable. To do so is paramount!t

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