When I was a little boy, my Italian-American grandmother would say, "Joseph, Joseph you are giving me agita," a slang for heartburn in Italian, usually after my friends and I broke some window playing baseball on the street.
The windows are cracking at the American College of Surgeons and the organization has a huge case of agita over a Valentine’s Day debacle involving its editor-in-chief's ill-chosen words in an opinion piece published in Surgery News, the official newspaper of the ACS.
No medicine is going to cure this heartburn anytime soon. The controversy and its fallout have put the spotlight on ACS’s virtually do-nothing board.
The debacle has to do with incendiary comments made by editor Lazar Greenfield, MD, who suggested in a Valentine’s Day piece entitled, "Gut Feeling" that unprotected sex enhances women’s moods.
Greenfield’s opinion piece attempted to highlight certain scientific findings about mating and reproduction. "As far as humans are concerned, you may think you know all about sexual signals, but you’d be surprised by new findings," he wrote in the Valentine’s Day piece. I'll spare you the details, but you can read his editorial here.
Greenfield, 78, resigned Sunday in the wake of the controversy. He also withdrew as president-elect of the ACS. Greenfield is a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Greenfield’s comments make a mockery of unprotected sex, are demeaning to women, the board, and to Greenfield himself. Not everyone agrees. Can’t you take a joke, some ask. Others say, Greenfield is a distinguished surgeon, be respectful.
But seriously, didn’t the board ever hear of a red pen? Allowing Greenfield’s comments into print to begin with makes one wonder about the ACS’s editorial review process, if there was any. Did Greenfield have carte blanche to say what he pleased?
The board took action only after the fact. The entire edition of the publication that included the editorial was withdrawn. By then, there was outrage all around.
Greenfield has insisted that he meant to be lighthearted. "I accepted responsibility for using scientific material in a light-hearted way to review new biochemical findings in sexuality," Greenfield said in an apology. "These findings show the remarkable way nature has promoted strong bonding between men and women, a gift rather than something demeaning."
Greenfield noted that he wrote the editorial as an "opinion piece written for a monthly throw-away newspaper, not a scientific journal," although his report was supported scientifically. In an email to the Detroit Free Press and some other media, Greenfield defended his comments in the wake of his resignation, saying his intent was mostly "light-hearted comment."
"The reports surrounding my resignation as president-elect of the American College of Surgeons lead readers to conclude that I represent an old-guard generation that represses women in surgery," Greenfield wrote. "Since nothing could be further from the truth. I can no longer remain silent in an attempt to protect the organization."
As some of Greenfield’s supporters have said, over the years he encouraged many women surgeons in their careers. That’s nice. But after reading his Valentine’s Day massacre of prose, you can’t help wonder about his current state of mind about women in our society.
Dr. Colleen Brophy, a professor of surgery at Vanderbilt University, told The New York Times that she was so angered by the Lazar's column and the board’s slow response that she resigned. "I have two teen-age daughters," Brophy told the paper. "What bothered me most was that a member of our leadership could advocate for unprotected sex. Even if he meant it as a joke, the way he wrote it came across as blatant. And it's not even an appropriate joke."
In light of all this, the ACS board's reaction seemed pretty timid. A comment posted on the New York Times site, attributed to the executive office of the ACS, reads: "The American College of Surgeons deeply regrets the offense taken to Dr. Greenfield’s editorial about Valentine’s Day. The Board of Regents has taken the matter under advisement and is working collaboratively to determine the best course of action."
A separate statement issued by Carlos A. Pellegrini, MD, FACS, chair of the board of regents, L.D. Britt, MD, FACS, president and David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, executive director of the ACS, reads, "The contributions Dr. Greenfield has made to the field of surgery, including the invention of the Greenfield Filter, cannot be overstated," said the statement.
"We wish to honor Dr. Greenfield and celebrate his inestimable contributions to the College and the surgical community," they added. "We also know that at this critical juncture for surgery and health care in America, it is important that the American College of Surgeons not be distracted by any issues that would diminish its focus on improving care of the surgical patient."
Beyond that statement, the Board has not responded to my request for further comment.
Are you kidding? The distraction is front and center. That’s my gut feeling.
Joe Cantlupe is a senior editor with HealthLeaders Media Online.
