Dr. Jon Azkue dies by suicide and media reports his death as an “inconvenience to patients.” He’s treated as if he is guilty of a crime. No sympathy. No sadness for the loss of a man who dedicated his entire life to helping others. I contacted ABC News to express my concern about slandering and dishonoring this caring physician. I never heard back.
Dr. Trevor Wesson has been missing since October 6, 2017. Media accuses him of abandoning 1500 patients. He is also accused of not paying his rent. No concern about the doctor’s well-being. Doctors are at high risk for suicide. Dr. Wesson has been missing for 2 months. Police have not intervened on his behalf. Rather a court injunction is being issued to prevent him from accessing his patient files during his “mysterious absence.”
I wrote the reporter. I’ve not heard back.
I’m praying that Dr. Wesson is found alive and receives the care that he so desperately needs. As for Dr. Jon Azkue, he will be honored in the forthcoming documentary Do No Harm.
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Pamela Wible, M.D., reports on human rights violations in medicine. She is author of Physician Suicide Letters—Answered.
What this article doesn’t say is that a leading cause of sucide for doctors often involves being incorrectly diagnosed as an “addict” or “alcoholic” and then being put on a strict supervision that involves mandatory AA and tested for even alcohol so that one drink 48 hours before they would see a patient could lead to the medical professional losing their license.
If AA and 12 Step actually did something useful to treat addiction that might be some justification for how it can turn lives inside out with its insistence that one drop of alcohol will lead to “jail, institutions, or death.”
It isn’t even a kind of justice that medical professionals have tended support AA and 12 Step when again it doesn’t work and if truth be told is more religious cult with its insistence on depending on a Higher Power, and one’s own “powerlessness” and turning one’s will and one’s life over to 12 Step.
True, the public has a right to be annoyed that the medical profession has supported 12 Step and AA when it only has a 5-10% success rate and in about as many cases makes a substance abuse issue worse or leads to suicide. However, the solution is to stop depending on AA and 12 Step, not to force individual doctors into suicide.
The article is about media doctor bashing. I definitely cover the failure of PHPs in other blogs like this one: https://www.idealmedicalcare.org/blog/ive-learned-547-doctor-suicides/
Pamela. Thank you for speaking up for Trevor. I was a patient of his for meny years in Toronto. Trevor was always really good with me, respectful and helped me in a rather difficult time. I hope he is safe and everything thing worksout for him. Even though he is no longer my doctor, he will always be one of my best. I really appreciated him and often wish he was still my doctor.
Thank you for writing Shane. Docs like Trevor spend most of their lives caring for others. The least we can do as compassionate human beings is care for him when he may be missing or in harm’s way. I pray for his safety.
The colleges is only interested in looting physician’s money. Their only goal is to loot money, harass doctors and least concerned about their needs and health and happiness