02.17.06
Fla.Woman ‘prescribed’ anti-gay literature Doctor’s office hands out pamphlets on ‘sin’ of homosexuality
Fla. Woman ‘prescribed’ anti-gay literature
Doctor’s office hands out pamphlets on ‘sin’ of homosexuality
By Phil Lapadula Express Gay News
A Kissimmee, Fla., lesbian has filed a complaint with the state health department after a physician’s assistant in a doctor’s office allegedly gave her anti-gay literature following a routine medical exam. The complaint alleges that the actions were a violation of the Florida Patient’s Bill of Rights.
The doctor involved in the case has declined to comment, and the physician’s assistant could not be reached for comment.
In March 2005, Jamie Beiler went to Dr. John R. Hartman’s office in Kissimmee for a follow-up exam for a case of bronchitis. As she was leaving, physician’s assistant Dawn Pope-Wright gave her a packet of literature in a sealed envelope with the doctor’s name and address on it, the complaint says.
The literature, titled “Homosexual/ Lesbian” describes homosexual activity as “sinful and sexually impure” and includes several Bible passages and a prescription to change.
‘Punishment of eternal fire’ “While homosexual activity is sin and impure, it is possible with God’s help to change,” reads a subtitle in the packet. The literature packet includes the Bible verse Jude 1:7, which describes the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah suffering “the punishment of eternal fire” for their “sexual immorality and perversion.”
“When I opened the sealed packet, I was shocked and outraged,” said Beiler in a press statement distributed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is representing her in the case. “I was extremely offended and I felt like I had been violated. To this day, I dread the thought of ever having to go to a doctor’s office again.”
Beiler first made a formal complaint with Dr. Hartman’s office manager, who informed her that their office routinely disseminates the anti-gay materials to patients.
Beiler is declining further media interviews in the case, said her attorney Karen Doering.
Doering said Pope-Wright’s actions violated her client’s privacy rights under the Florida Patient’s Bill of Rights.
“She [the physician's assistant] took private medical information from [Beiler's] file - the fact that she is a lesbian - and used it to promote for her own political and religious agenda,” Doering said. “That is absolutely inappropriate.”
The complaint was filed against both Pope-Wright and Dr. Hartman. It was filed with the state health department’s Division of Medical Quality Assurance and CIGNA Healthcare of Florida.
Dr. Hartman is declining media request for comment about the case, said an office administrator, Susan, who declined to give her last name. The administrator did say that Pope-Wright no longer works for Dr. Hartman. She did not have a contact number for her.
A call to a Dawn A. Wright in Kissimmee was not returned.
Doering said the information packet promoted so-called “reparative therapy,” which, she said, “has been discredited by every mainstream medical and psychological organization.”
“The packet didn’t mention any of the possible risks of reparative therapy or that it could actually cause emotional harm,” Doering added.
Doering said it was appropriate for the fact that Beiler is a lesbian to be included in her medical file.
“There are a lot of medical conditions, such as breast cancer, that lesbians are more likely to get,” she said. But she said it was totally inappropriate for Pope-Wright to take that confidential medical information and use it to promote a political or religious agenda.
Doering said such incidents could make lesbians fearful of seeking medical treatment, which could result in poorer healthcare.
“Lesbians are already reluctant to get medical treatment,” Doering said. “Something like this just makes matters worse.”