Doctor involved in controversial care of girl kills self (6 y.o. hysterectomy)

Seattle Times ^ | 10/10/07 | Brian Alexander

[BurbankKarl]

A Children's Hospital doctor, who was both criticized and praised for his involvement in a hysterectomy performed on a 6-year-old disabled girl in order to keep her small, committed suicide last week, according to the King County Medical Examiner.

Dr. Daniel F. Gunther inhaled car exhaust and died of toxic asphyxia at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 30, according to the medical examiner. The death was ruled a suicide.

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Poor man. I’m sorry to hear that.

[pandoraou812]

Prayers for that little girl, Ashley. Prayers for the doctor’s family.

[ChildOfThe60s]

Sad for all involved.

No happy ending to this story.

[Ralph the Hun]

Yeah, this is a tragic case all around. Reading the details of this poor girl, it is clear that she exhibits a profound developmental, neurological, and cognitive impairment. The parents, doctors, and ethicists involved only wanted to do what they felt was right for her. The problem was, there were those who felt the hysterectomy was wrong from a medical and ethical perspective.
Tough call. Feel real sorry for both the girl's and the doctor's family.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Prayers all around.

[yldstrk]

If the guy had been a Christian he would have prayed about it and had faith that he had done the right thing.

[reuben kincaid]

What a complete f*cking idiotic thing to say.

[Captain Rhino]

IIRC, this girl was not 6, more like 9 or 10 and they removed her breast tissue along with the uterus so she wouldn’t start menarche. They also gave her hormones to stun her growth. Sounded awful until you read how profoundly disabled the girl was, both physically and mentally. In addition, I recall that this was the only child of an older couple (child was born late in the mother’s fertility period). So there were not going to be any other children and the couple was entirely devoted to caring for her as long as they could. Keeping her prepubescent and small was a practical way of making it easier for her parents to perform the daily care tasks for their child.

Suicide is always tragic but I wonder if the surgeon’s motivation to kill himself really arose out of this case.

[null and void]

I see it didn’t pass the smog test...

[Mila]

“If the guy had been a Christian he would have prayed about it and had faith that he had done the right thing.”

Even the best of Christians can falter and question, think of that good woman Mother Teresa. None of us are without our frailties, some are just stronger than others. Prayers for his family.