Re: (Long) Rant about meeting with duPont Ortho. Chairman

[Guest guest]

Hey ,

Hi, I'm Marshall's husband & Zander's daddy, and your story just

absolutely made my skin crawl. Nothing makes me steaming mad

more than alleged " professionals " caught up in pettiness, ignorance

and apathy to the detriment of their patients.

Did you a little favor - set up some ads on Google to get more

traffic to your site. If you search " Club Feet " or similar phrases

on Google you'll see an ad that says:

Our Club Foot Nightmare

One Doctor's Incompetence & Apathy

& The Alternative Solution We Found

www.cseel.com/clubfoot

Hopefully you'll see some more traffic.

You could also write a press release about this, I'm sure

some papers / magazines might pick it up.

More power to ya,

Marshall

Seel christine_seel@...> wrote:

OK, I have been stewing on something for more than a month now and I'm still

mad about it so I thought maybe a rant would help! After we had such a

terrible time with duPont hospital in Delaware, and we switched to Iowa, I saw

such major differences between the levels of care Devlin received. I really

thought duPont could benefit from our experience and that other clubfoot

babies---especially Atypical Clubfoot babies---could be treated more

effectively if the doctors at duPont were more aware of the true Ponseti

treatment. You all know what I'm talking about---spreading the word for the

benefit of others.

We called duPont's patient services and worked through the ranks, finally

getting an appointment with the head of Orthopedics at the hospital (Dr.

Bower). The guy claimed to be interested in finding out about our

experiences there and why we were dissatisfied. I talked to Dr. Ponseti

before the meeting to ask what specific points I should drive in. He offered to

train someone from duPont if they would send them out for 2 weeks or so and

I was all excited to suggest that to the guy. I put together the log we had

been

keeping and included color pictures for illustration. I took it all to him to

show

him what went wrong (and right) with Devlin's treatment.

What a joke of a meeting! The jerk really " put us in our place " . Dr. Bower

said

that Dr. Ponseti was someone you could see only if you " had enough money

to lay on the table to get his attention " and that the Ponseti method has never

worked because " he has never found a brace that can hold the correction "

and that " even right now he's working with big orthotics manufacturers trying

to develop something that will work " (I think would be impressed to find

out that he's a " big orthotics company " ). Bower said that if " Ponseti couldn't

find a brace by now, after all these years, he never will " . He also said that

the

University of Iowa " has to let him do what he wants because of his senior

status there " and that they are " indulging him " by letting him continue to

practice. Finally, he said that Dr. Ponseti's method will die with him. I was

so

pissed I could barely speak. I did manage to say " really? tell that to the

troops of doctors from around the world we always see there. " But the jerk

just kept cutting us off and smirking at our naivety.

I don't even need to tell everyone here how absurd everything the guy had to

say was. We could tell that the only purpose of the meeting was to see if we

had grounds or intentions for a lawsuit. I'm so mad at this point I want to sue

just to make them learn how much more they need to know about clubfoot

treatment!

Anyway, feeling rather unempowered, I decided I had to do SOMETHING

about duPont so I put the log and the pictures up on my web site. You can

see it at www.cseel.com/clubfoot/ The search engines are starting to pick it up

and if you do a google search for " clubfoot dupont " ours is the 3rd result. Dr.

Bower may feel like he silenced us, but I beg to differ!

Anyway, thank you for being a forum for my rant! I know everyone here is as

offended and incensed about Bower's Ponseti comments as I am. I just can't

believe guys like this control the future and the fate of so many unsuspecting

babies and their parents. Let's continue to spread the word about proper

clubfoot treatment and stop the few " God-complex " surgeons from maintaining

their status...

[Guest guest]

Hey ,

Hi, I'm Marshall's husband & Zander's daddy, and your story just

absolutely made my skin crawl. Nothing makes me steaming mad

more than alleged " professionals " caught up in pettiness, ignorance

and apathy to the detriment of their patients.

Did you a little favor - set up some ads on Google to get more

traffic to your site. If you search " Club Feet " or similar phrases

on Google you'll see an ad that says:

Our Club Foot Nightmare

One Doctor's Incompetence & Apathy

& The Alternative Solution We Found

www.cseel.com/clubfoot

Hopefully you'll see some more traffic.

You could also write a press release about this, I'm sure

some papers / magazines might pick it up.

More power to ya,

Marshall

Seel christine_seel@...> wrote:

OK, I have been stewing on something for more than a month now and I'm still

mad about it so I thought maybe a rant would help! After we had such a

terrible time with duPont hospital in Delaware, and we switched to Iowa, I saw

such major differences between the levels of care Devlin received. I really

thought duPont could benefit from our experience and that other clubfoot

babies---especially Atypical Clubfoot babies---could be treated more

effectively if the doctors at duPont were more aware of the true Ponseti

treatment. You all know what I'm talking about---spreading the word for the

benefit of others.

We called duPont's patient services and worked through the ranks, finally

getting an appointment with the head of Orthopedics at the hospital (Dr.

Bower). The guy claimed to be interested in finding out about our

experiences there and why we were dissatisfied. I talked to Dr. Ponseti

before the meeting to ask what specific points I should drive in. He offered to

train someone from duPont if they would send them out for 2 weeks or so and

I was all excited to suggest that to the guy. I put together the log we had

been

keeping and included color pictures for illustration. I took it all to him to

show

him what went wrong (and right) with Devlin's treatment.

What a joke of a meeting! The jerk really " put us in our place " . Dr. Bower

said

that Dr. Ponseti was someone you could see only if you " had enough money

to lay on the table to get his attention " and that the Ponseti method has never

worked because " he has never found a brace that can hold the correction "

and that " even right now he's working with big orthotics manufacturers trying

to develop something that will work " (I think would be impressed to find

out that he's a " big orthotics company " ). Bower said that if " Ponseti couldn't

find a brace by now, after all these years, he never will " . He also said that

the

University of Iowa " has to let him do what he wants because of his senior

status there " and that they are " indulging him " by letting him continue to

practice. Finally, he said that Dr. Ponseti's method will die with him. I was

so

pissed I could barely speak. I did manage to say " really? tell that to the

troops of doctors from around the world we always see there. " But the jerk

just kept cutting us off and smirking at our naivety.

I don't even need to tell everyone here how absurd everything the guy had to

say was. We could tell that the only purpose of the meeting was to see if we

had grounds or intentions for a lawsuit. I'm so mad at this point I want to sue

just to make them learn how much more they need to know about clubfoot

treatment!

Anyway, feeling rather unempowered, I decided I had to do SOMETHING

about duPont so I put the log and the pictures up on my web site. You can

see it at www.cseel.com/clubfoot/ The search engines are starting to pick it up

and if you do a google search for " clubfoot dupont " ours is the 3rd result. Dr.

Bower may feel like he silenced us, but I beg to differ!

Anyway, thank you for being a forum for my rant! I know everyone here is as

offended and incensed about Bower's Ponseti comments as I am. I just can't

believe guys like this control the future and the fate of so many unsuspecting

babies and their parents. Let's continue to spread the word about proper

clubfoot treatment and stop the few " God-complex " surgeons from maintaining

their status...

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

We travelled from South Africa to Iowa last April so that our son could

be treated with the Ponseti Method. In our experience, Dr Ponseti is

not motivated by money in the slightest. On the contrary, he is a

modest, quietly spoken and incredibly kind man who would never badmouth

another doctor in the way this pompous cretin has done. Whatever

happened to medical ethics!

I have read Dr Ponseti's book and it is obvious that he has devoted

years to researching birth defects like clubfoot (amongst others), and

then had the interest and sympathy for those suffering post-surgical

symptoms to develop an effective non-surgical treatment that takes far

less time (and money) for doctors to do. Some people have voiced the

opinion to me that it maybe the reason some doctors don't want to switch

- because surgery is more profitable.

I'm sure that Dr Ponseti has had to handle similar uninformed criticisms

often in the past, which is probably why he stopped trying to get his

method out there and carried on doing it in Iowa all those years. The

only consolation is, as time goes on and the word continues to spread

through the internet informing parents of their choices - and as more

doctors continue to learn the method - he will have to eat his words.

Or preferably be retired, like the ignorant medical dinosaur he

obviously is - living in the dark ages! And the same goes for the other

doctors who also think like him.

Good luck with your campaign to publicise the appalling treatment you

had form this hospital.

and (South Africa)

24th Jan 2003, bilateral cf

(Long) Rant about meeting with duPont

Ortho.

Chairman

OK, I have been stewing on something for more than a month now and I'm

still

mad about it so I thought maybe a rant would help! After we had such a

terrible time with duPont hospital in Delaware, and we switched to Iowa,

I

saw

such major differences between the levels of care Devlin received. I

really

thought duPont could benefit from our experience and that other clubfoot

babies---especially Atypical Clubfoot babies---could be treated more

effectively if the doctors at duPont were more aware of the true Ponseti

treatment. You all know what I'm talking about---spreading the word for

the

benefit of others.

We called duPont's patient services and worked through the ranks,

finally

getting an appointment with the head of Orthopedics at the hospital (Dr.

Bower). The guy claimed to be interested in finding out about our

experiences there and why we were dissatisfied. I talked to Dr. Ponseti

before the meeting to ask what specific points I should drive in. He

offered to

train someone from duPont if they would send them out for 2 weeks or so

and

I was all excited to suggest that to the guy. I put together the log we

had

been

keeping and included color pictures for illustration. I took it all to

him

to show

him what went wrong (and right) with Devlin's treatment.

What a joke of a meeting! The jerk really " put us in our place " . Dr.

Bower

said

that Dr. Ponseti was someone you could see only if you " had enough money

to lay on the table to get his attention " and that the Ponseti method

has

never

worked because " he has never found a brace that can hold the correction "

and that " even right now he's working with big orthotics manufacturers

trying

to develop something that will work " (I think would be impressed to

find

out that he's a " big orthotics company " ). Bower said that if " Ponseti

couldn't

find a brace by now, after all these years, he never will " . He also

said

that the

University of Iowa " has to let him do what he wants because of his

senior

status there " and that they are " indulging him " by letting him continue

to

practice. Finally, he said that Dr. Ponseti's method will die with him.

I

was so

pissed I could barely speak. I did manage to say " really? tell that to

the

troops of doctors from around the world we always see there. " But the

jerk

just kept cutting us off and smirking at our naivety.

I don't even need to tell everyone here how absurd everything the guy

had to

say was. We could tell that the only purpose of the meeting was to see

if

we

had grounds or intentions for a lawsuit. I'm so mad at this point I

want to

sue

just to make them learn how much more they need to know about clubfoot

treatment!

Anyway, feeling rather unempowered, I decided I had to do SOMETHING

about duPont so I put the log and the pictures up on my web site. You

can

see it at www.cseel.com/clubfoot/ The search engines are starting to

pick

it up

and if you do a google search for " clubfoot dupont " ours is the 3rd

result.

Dr.

Bower may feel like he silenced us, but I beg to differ!

Anyway, thank you for being a forum for my rant! I know everyone here

is as

offended and incensed about Bower's Ponseti comments as I am. I just

can't

believe guys like this control the future and the fate of so many

unsuspecting

babies and their parents. Let's continue to spread the word about

proper

clubfoot treatment and stop the few " God-complex " surgeons from

maintaining

their status...

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

We travelled from South Africa to Iowa last April so that our son could

be treated with the Ponseti Method. In our experience, Dr Ponseti is

not motivated by money in the slightest. On the contrary, he is a

modest, quietly spoken and incredibly kind man who would never badmouth

another doctor in the way this pompous cretin has done. Whatever

happened to medical ethics!

I have read Dr Ponseti's book and it is obvious that he has devoted

years to researching birth defects like clubfoot (amongst others), and

then had the interest and sympathy for those suffering post-surgical

symptoms to develop an effective non-surgical treatment that takes far

less time (and money) for doctors to do. Some people have voiced the

opinion to me that it maybe the reason some doctors don't want to switch

- because surgery is more profitable.

I'm sure that Dr Ponseti has had to handle similar uninformed criticisms

often in the past, which is probably why he stopped trying to get his

method out there and carried on doing it in Iowa all those years. The

only consolation is, as time goes on and the word continues to spread

through the internet informing parents of their choices - and as more

doctors continue to learn the method - he will have to eat his words.

Or preferably be retired, like the ignorant medical dinosaur he

obviously is - living in the dark ages! And the same goes for the other

doctors who also think like him.

Good luck with your campaign to publicise the appalling treatment you

had form this hospital.

and (South Africa)

24th Jan 2003, bilateral cf

(Long) Rant about meeting with duPont

Ortho.

Chairman

OK, I have been stewing on something for more than a month now and I'm

still

mad about it so I thought maybe a rant would help! After we had such a

terrible time with duPont hospital in Delaware, and we switched to Iowa,

I

saw

such major differences between the levels of care Devlin received. I

really

thought duPont could benefit from our experience and that other clubfoot

babies---especially Atypical Clubfoot babies---could be treated more

effectively if the doctors at duPont were more aware of the true Ponseti

treatment. You all know what I'm talking about---spreading the word for

the

benefit of others.

We called duPont's patient services and worked through the ranks,

finally

getting an appointment with the head of Orthopedics at the hospital (Dr.

Bower). The guy claimed to be interested in finding out about our

experiences there and why we were dissatisfied. I talked to Dr. Ponseti

before the meeting to ask what specific points I should drive in. He

offered to

train someone from duPont if they would send them out for 2 weeks or so

and

I was all excited to suggest that to the guy. I put together the log we

had

been

keeping and included color pictures for illustration. I took it all to

him

to show

him what went wrong (and right) with Devlin's treatment.

What a joke of a meeting! The jerk really " put us in our place " . Dr.

Bower

said

that Dr. Ponseti was someone you could see only if you " had enough money

to lay on the table to get his attention " and that the Ponseti method

has

never

worked because " he has never found a brace that can hold the correction "

and that " even right now he's working with big orthotics manufacturers

trying

to develop something that will work " (I think would be impressed to

find

out that he's a " big orthotics company " ). Bower said that if " Ponseti

couldn't

find a brace by now, after all these years, he never will " . He also

said

that the

University of Iowa " has to let him do what he wants because of his

senior

status there " and that they are " indulging him " by letting him continue

to

practice. Finally, he said that Dr. Ponseti's method will die with him.

I

was so

pissed I could barely speak. I did manage to say " really? tell that to

the

troops of doctors from around the world we always see there. " But the

jerk

just kept cutting us off and smirking at our naivety.

I don't even need to tell everyone here how absurd everything the guy

had to

say was. We could tell that the only purpose of the meeting was to see

if

we

had grounds or intentions for a lawsuit. I'm so mad at this point I

want to

sue

just to make them learn how much more they need to know about clubfoot

treatment!

Anyway, feeling rather unempowered, I decided I had to do SOMETHING

about duPont so I put the log and the pictures up on my web site. You

can

see it at www.cseel.com/clubfoot/ The search engines are starting to

pick

it up

and if you do a google search for " clubfoot dupont " ours is the 3rd

result.

Dr.

Bower may feel like he silenced us, but I beg to differ!

Anyway, thank you for being a forum for my rant! I know everyone here

is as

offended and incensed about Bower's Ponseti comments as I am. I just

can't

believe guys like this control the future and the fate of so many

unsuspecting

babies and their parents. Let's continue to spread the word about

proper

clubfoot treatment and stop the few " God-complex " surgeons from

maintaining

their status...

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

We travelled from South Africa to Iowa last April so that our son could

be treated with the Ponseti Method. In our experience, Dr Ponseti is

not motivated by money in the slightest. On the contrary, he is a

modest, quietly spoken and incredibly kind man who would never badmouth

another doctor in the way this pompous cretin has done. Whatever

happened to medical ethics!

I have read Dr Ponseti's book and it is obvious that he has devoted

years to researching birth defects like clubfoot (amongst others), and

then had the interest and sympathy for those suffering post-surgical

symptoms to develop an effective non-surgical treatment that takes far

less time (and money) for doctors to do. Some people have voiced the

opinion to me that it maybe the reason some doctors don't want to switch

- because surgery is more profitable.

I'm sure that Dr Ponseti has had to handle similar uninformed criticisms

often in the past, which is probably why he stopped trying to get his

method out there and carried on doing it in Iowa all those years. The

only consolation is, as time goes on and the word continues to spread

through the internet informing parents of their choices - and as more

doctors continue to learn the method - he will have to eat his words.

Or preferably be retired, like the ignorant medical dinosaur he

obviously is - living in the dark ages! And the same goes for the other

doctors who also think like him.

Good luck with your campaign to publicise the appalling treatment you

had form this hospital.

and (South Africa)

24th Jan 2003, bilateral cf

(Long) Rant about meeting with duPont

Ortho.

Chairman

OK, I have been stewing on something for more than a month now and I'm

still

mad about it so I thought maybe a rant would help! After we had such a

terrible time with duPont hospital in Delaware, and we switched to Iowa,

I

saw

such major differences between the levels of care Devlin received. I

really

thought duPont could benefit from our experience and that other clubfoot

babies---especially Atypical Clubfoot babies---could be treated more

effectively if the doctors at duPont were more aware of the true Ponseti

treatment. You all know what I'm talking about---spreading the word for

the

benefit of others.

We called duPont's patient services and worked through the ranks,

finally

getting an appointment with the head of Orthopedics at the hospital (Dr.

Bower). The guy claimed to be interested in finding out about our

experiences there and why we were dissatisfied. I talked to Dr. Ponseti

before the meeting to ask what specific points I should drive in. He

offered to

train someone from duPont if they would send them out for 2 weeks or so

and

I was all excited to suggest that to the guy. I put together the log we

had

been

keeping and included color pictures for illustration. I took it all to

him

to show

him what went wrong (and right) with Devlin's treatment.

What a joke of a meeting! The jerk really " put us in our place " . Dr.

Bower

said

that Dr. Ponseti was someone you could see only if you " had enough money

to lay on the table to get his attention " and that the Ponseti method

has

never

worked because " he has never found a brace that can hold the correction "

and that " even right now he's working with big orthotics manufacturers

trying

to develop something that will work " (I think would be impressed to

find

out that he's a " big orthotics company " ). Bower said that if " Ponseti

couldn't

find a brace by now, after all these years, he never will " . He also

said

that the

University of Iowa " has to let him do what he wants because of his

senior

status there " and that they are " indulging him " by letting him continue

to

practice. Finally, he said that Dr. Ponseti's method will die with him.

I

was so

pissed I could barely speak. I did manage to say " really? tell that to

the

troops of doctors from around the world we always see there. " But the

jerk

just kept cutting us off and smirking at our naivety.

I don't even need to tell everyone here how absurd everything the guy

had to

say was. We could tell that the only purpose of the meeting was to see

if

we

had grounds or intentions for a lawsuit. I'm so mad at this point I

want to

sue

just to make them learn how much more they need to know about clubfoot

treatment!

Anyway, feeling rather unempowered, I decided I had to do SOMETHING

about duPont so I put the log and the pictures up on my web site. You

can

see it at www.cseel.com/clubfoot/ The search engines are starting to

pick

it up

and if you do a google search for " clubfoot dupont " ours is the 3rd

result.

Dr.

Bower may feel like he silenced us, but I beg to differ!

Anyway, thank you for being a forum for my rant! I know everyone here

is as

offended and incensed about Bower's Ponseti comments as I am. I just

can't

believe guys like this control the future and the fate of so many

unsuspecting

babies and their parents. Let's continue to spread the word about

proper

clubfoot treatment and stop the few " God-complex " surgeons from

maintaining

their status...

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

This is the letter I am sending to " Dr. Bowen " and his superiors.

August 10, 2004

J. Bowen, M.D.

Chair & Surgeon in Chief

Dept of Orthopedics

A.I duPont Hospital for Children

PO Box 269

Wilmington, DE 19988

Dr. Bowen:

On June 25, 2004 you met with the parents of Devlin Gallagher regarding the

treatment of clubfoot. Mrs. Gallagher offered you evidence she had collected

during the treatment of her daughter, that Dr. Ignacio Ponseti’s method of

clubfoot treatment works and you pretty much spit in her face.

Among other things, you told her that the U of I only lets him do what he wants

because of his senior status and they are indulging him. You also said Dr.

Ponseti’s method will die with him. At the very least, you have very bad

manners to badmouth another Doctor, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE

TALKING ABOUT!

Do you know Dr. Mosca at Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Washington? If

not, I suggest you contact him. He is the head of the orthopedics department

there and has been treating clubfoot for 20+ years. He is a recent (within the

last 5 years) convert to the Ponseti method and he told me when he treated my

daughter for clubfoot that he wished he could go back and redo all the children

he had treated surgically. My daughter is 1-½ years into her non-surgical

clubfoot treatment and I am here to tell you that we are committed to seeing it

through. There are many many doctors nationwide that are learning this method

and saving children from UNNECESSARY SURGERY.

Shame on you, Dr. Bowen, for not shutting your mouth and listening to the

parents of this child. You, as the head of a department at a Children’s

Hospital of all places, should know better. Never underestimate the power of

the Internet. You may have thought you were only talking to the Gallaghers, but

you were really talking to a much broader audience and it should be apparent,

even to you, that you have hurt the credibility of your hospital with your

arrogant inflexible opinions and insensitive comments. I personally would not

let you treat my dog for a sore paw, much less let you get anywhere near my

daughter’s feet. I hope you get canned over this, I truly do.

Cc: P. Ferry

Administrator/Chief Executive

Rita S. Meek, M.D.

Hospital Medical Director

Robin & Rose

3/12/03 Right club foot

Seel christine_seel@...> wrote:

Thank you Angel for getting me back to the original goal of " positive

action " !!!

First of all, I need to correct something: my spell checker had

changed the name (I had it " learn " Bower for something else)...his

name is Dr. Bowen, not Bower. I never even caught it because at a

glance they look so similar.

I think it would be great if anyone wanted to send him a letter! You

can mention that it's in response to comments he made in a June 25th

meeting with the parents of Devlin Gallagher, or you can make it

seemingly unrelated. I suggest you " cc " over his head since he

already thinks he knows everything there is to know and mere parents

( " mortals " ) cannot offer him ( " The Almighty " ) anything new.

The Address is:

J. Bowen, MD

Chair and Surgeon-in-Chief, Department of Orthopedics

A.I. duPont Hospital for Children

1600 Rockland Road

Post Office Box 269

Wilmington, Delaware 19899

As far as management of the hospital and clinic, the people are:

ALFRED I. duPONT HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN

P. Ferry

Administrator/Chief Executive

Rita S. Meek, MD

Hospital Medical Director

NEMOURS CHILDREN'S CLINIC — DELAWARE

Roy Proujansky, MD

Chief Executive of the Practice

I really hope maybe if he hears from others he may give more thought

to the Ponseti method. Maybe one set of " disgruntled parents " who

think " the grass is greener in Iowa " (these are my words, not his)

can be easily dismissed, but if he heard success story after success

story he may revisit this issue.

Don't be surprised if we never get anywhere with duPont. In our

experience, as an organization they seem terribly broken. It seemed

that from the people at the reception desk to the cafeteria workers,

all are disgruntled " not my job " bureaucrats (with a few exceptions,

like the O.T. and P.T. who worked with Devlin, and the Geneticist we

saw). They don't seem to have a whole lot of regard for the care of

children. For example, can you believe their " designated nursing

area " is a bathroom stall? Pathetic, isn't it? As of October Aetna

insurance won't deal with them anymore. I'm so glad we finally got

out of there.

But, in thinking of others, maybe we can help them find their way to

better clubfoot treatment by leading a campaign for better Ponseti

method education. Please consider sending a letter to the above

mentioned people.

Thanks again Angel for bringing me back to constructivism!

> I let my husband read this. That is, after I picked my chin up off

the floor. His first reaction was to look up duPont, look up Dr

Bower, and send him an e-mail detailing exactly how wrong and

insulting he was. Unfortuntely he doesnt have an e-mail address

listed. He DOES, however, have a mailing address listed. Other's

can join in if they wish, I think it might make some impact if he got

a whole bunch of letters about this. We will be sending one - very

detailed and with photos.

>

> It probably will not change his mind in the least, but it WILL show

him that you can't expect to shut up a parent with your " superior

knowledge " and get away with it. It will show him that word gets out.

>

> As a side note, my husband found an article on the duPont site

where a child was misdiagnosed with metatarsus adductus and treated

for it for six months before they figured out that it was skewfoot -

which involves the heel as well as the forefoot and is a whole

different thing alltogether. The case file of course goes on to

state how successful BLAH BLAH BLAH. Apparently it isnt uncommon for

them to screw things up. Check it out yourself

http://gait.aidi.udel.edu/res695/homepage/pd_ortho/educate/clincase/sk

ew2htm

>

> Angel

>

> (Long) Rant about meeting with duPont

Ortho. Chairman

>

>

> OK, I have been stewing on something for more than a month now and

I'm still

> mad about it so I thought maybe a rant would help! After we had

such a

> terrible time with duPont hospital in Delaware, and we switched to

Iowa, I saw

> such major differences between the levels of care Devlin received.

I really

> thought duPont could benefit from our experience and that other

clubfoot

> babies---especially Atypical Clubfoot babies---could be treated

more

> effectively if the doctors at duPont were more aware of the true

Ponseti

> treatment. You all know what I'm talking about---spreading the

word for the

> benefit of others.

>

> We called duPont's patient services and worked through the ranks,

finally

> getting an appointment with the head of Orthopedics at the hospital

(Dr.

> Bower). The guy claimed to be interested in finding out about our

> experiences there and why we were dissatisfied. I talked to Dr.

Ponseti

> before the meeting to ask what specific points I should drive in.

He offered to

> train someone from duPont if they would send them out for 2 weeks

or so and

> I was all excited to suggest that to the guy. I put together the

log we had been

> keeping and included color pictures for illustration. I took it

all to him to show

> him what went wrong (and right) with Devlin's treatment.

>

> What a joke of a meeting! The jerk really " put us in our place " .

Dr. Bower said

> that Dr. Ponseti was someone you could see only if you " had enough

money

> to lay on the table to get his attention " and that the Ponseti

method has never

> worked because " he has never found a brace that can hold the

correction "

> and that " even right now he's working with big orthotics

manufacturers trying

> to develop something that will work " (I think would be

impressed to find

> out that he's a " big orthotics company " ). Bower said that

if " Ponseti couldn't

> find a brace by now, after all these years, he never will " . He

also said that the

> University of Iowa " has to let him do what he wants because of his

senior

> status there " and that they are " indulging him " by letting him

continue to

> practice. Finally, he said that Dr. Ponseti's method will die with

him. I was so

> pissed I could barely speak. I did manage to say " really? tell

that to the

> troops of doctors from around the world we always see there. " But

the jerk

> just kept cutting us off and smirking at our naivety.

>

> I don't even need to tell everyone here how absurd everything the

guy had to

> say was. We could tell that the only purpose of the meeting was to

see if we

> had grounds or intentions for a lawsuit. I'm so mad at this point

I want to sue

> just to make them learn how much more they need to know about

clubfoot

> treatment!

>

> Anyway, feeling rather unempowered, I decided I had to do SOMETHING

> about duPont so I put the log and the pictures up on my web site.

You can

> see it at www.cseel.com/clubfoot/ The search engines are starting

to pick it up

> and if you do a google search for " clubfoot dupont " ours is the 3rd

result. Dr.

> Bower may feel like he silenced us, but I beg to differ!

>

> Anyway, thank you for being a forum for my rant! I know everyone

here is as

> offended and incensed about Bower's Ponseti comments as I am. I

just can't

> believe guys like this control the future and the fate of so many

unsuspecting

> babies and their parents. Let's continue to spread the word about

proper

> clubfoot treatment and stop the few " God-complex " surgeons from

maintaining

> their status...

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Robin-

First off as a parent with a child of clubfoot, I understand how angry you

are about this doctor's comments and opinions about the Ponseti Method.

Please don't take my comments the wrong way because I'm on your side 100%.

However, your letter comes off " only as an angry parent " with an opinion.

You are fighting anger with anger and nobody benefits from that. I can tell

you that Dr. Bowen's supperiors will only see you as a disgruntal parent and

disregard your letter completely. You really need to add statistical data to

combat Dr. Bowens's comments. You have listed nothing other than your

opinion in the letter. If you want to get doctor's attention you must

provide them with factual information not opinions. I typed a letter to my

first ortho who believed the Ponseti Method was only a " fad " . I waited 6

months to type that letter, so the anger I felt at the time would not come

across in the letter. The letter was well received and the doc even called

me to discuss it with me. This doctor has now even trained with Dr. P and is

using his method. If you would like a copy of the letter I can email it to

you to see what I mean about providing statistical/factual information.

>

>Reply-To: nosurgery4clubfoot

>To: nosurgery4clubfoot

>Subject: Re: Re: (Long) Rant about meeting with duPont

>Ortho. Chairman

>Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 14:35:50 -0700 (PDT)

>

>Hi everyone,

>

>This is the letter I am sending to " Dr. Bowen " and his superiors.

>

> August 10, 2004

>

>

>J. Bowen, M.D.

>

>Chair & Surgeon in Chief

>

>Dept of Orthopedics

>

>A.I duPont Hospital for Children

>

>PO Box 269

>

>Wilmington, DE 19988

>

>

>

>Dr. Bowen:

>

>

>

>On June 25, 2004 you met with the parents of Devlin Gallagher regarding the

>treatment of clubfoot. Mrs. Gallagher offered you evidence she had

>collected during the treatment of her daughter, that Dr. Ignacio Ponseti’s

>method of clubfoot treatment works and you pretty much spit in her face.

>

>

>

>Among other things, you told her that the U of I only lets him do what he

>wants because of his senior status and they are indulging him. You also

>said Dr. Ponseti’s method will die with him. At the very least, you have

>very bad manners to badmouth another Doctor, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW

>WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!

>

>

>

>Do you know Dr. Mosca at Children’s Hospital in Seattle,

>Washington? If not, I suggest you contact him. He is the head of the

>orthopedics department there and has been treating clubfoot for 20+ years.

>He is a recent (within the last 5 years) convert to the Ponseti method and

>he told me when he treated my daughter for clubfoot that he wished he could

>go back and redo all the children he had treated surgically. My daughter

>is 1-½ years into her non-surgical clubfoot treatment and I am here to tell

>you that we are committed to seeing it through. There are many many

>doctors nationwide that are learning this method and saving children from

>UNNECESSARY SURGERY.

>

>

>

>Shame on you, Dr. Bowen, for not shutting your mouth and listening to the

>parents of this child. You, as the head of a department at a Children’s

>Hospital of all places, should know better. Never underestimate the power

>of the Internet. You may have thought you were only talking to the

>Gallaghers, but you were really talking to a much broader audience and it

>should be apparent, even to you, that you have hurt the credibility of your

>hospital with your arrogant inflexible opinions and insensitive comments.

>I personally would not let you treat my dog for a sore paw, much less let

>you get anywhere near my daughter’s feet. I hope you get canned over

>this, I truly do.

>

>

>

>

>

>Cc: P. Ferry

>

> Administrator/Chief Executive

>

>

>

> Rita S. Meek, M.D.

>

> Hospital Medical Director

>

>

>

>Robin & Rose

>

>3/12/03 Right club foot

>

>

> Seel christine_seel@...> wrote:

>Thank you Angel for getting me back to the original goal of " positive

>action " !!!

>

>First of all, I need to correct something: my spell checker had

>changed the name (I had it " learn " Bower for something else)...his

>name is Dr. Bowen, not Bower. I never even caught it because at a

>glance they look so similar.

>

>I think it would be great if anyone wanted to send him a letter! You

>can mention that it's in response to comments he made in a June 25th

>meeting with the parents of Devlin Gallagher, or you can make it

>seemingly unrelated. I suggest you " cc " over his head since he

>already thinks he knows everything there is to know and mere parents

>( " mortals " ) cannot offer him ( " The Almighty " ) anything new.

>

>The Address is:

>

>J. Bowen, MD

>Chair and Surgeon-in-Chief, Department of Orthopedics

>A.I. duPont Hospital for Children

>1600 Rockland Road

>Post Office Box 269

>Wilmington, Delaware 19899

>

>As far as management of the hospital and clinic, the people are:

>

>ALFRED I. duPONT HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN

>

> P. Ferry

>Administrator/Chief Executive

>

>Rita S. Meek, MD

>Hospital Medical Director

>

>NEMOURS CHILDREN'S CLINIC — DELAWARE

>

>Roy Proujansky, MD

>Chief Executive of the Practice

>

>I really hope maybe if he hears from others he may give more thought

>to the Ponseti method. Maybe one set of " disgruntled parents " who

>think " the grass is greener in Iowa " (these are my words, not his)

>can be easily dismissed, but if he heard success story after success

>story he may revisit this issue.

>

>Don't be surprised if we never get anywhere with duPont. In our

>experience, as an organization they seem terribly broken. It seemed

>that from the people at the reception desk to the cafeteria workers,

>all are disgruntled " not my job " bureaucrats (with a few exceptions,

>like the O.T. and P.T. who worked with Devlin, and the Geneticist we

>saw). They don't seem to have a whole lot of regard for the care of

>children. For example, can you believe their " designated nursing

>area " is a bathroom stall? Pathetic, isn't it? As of October Aetna

>insurance won't deal with them anymore. I'm so glad we finally got

>out of there.

>

>But, in thinking of others, maybe we can help them find their way to

>better clubfoot treatment by leading a campaign for better Ponseti

>method education. Please consider sending a letter to the above

>mentioned people.

>

>Thanks again Angel for bringing me back to constructivism!

>

>

>

> > I let my husband read this. That is, after I picked my chin up off

>the floor. His first reaction was to look up duPont, look up Dr

>Bower, and send him an e-mail detailing exactly how wrong and

>insulting he was. Unfortuntely he doesnt have an e-mail address

>listed. He DOES, however, have a mailing address listed. Other's

>can join in if they wish, I think it might make some impact if he got

>a whole bunch of letters about this. We will be sending one - very

>detailed and with photos.

> >

> > It probably will not change his mind in the least, but it WILL show

>him that you can't expect to shut up a parent with your " superior

>knowledge " and get away with it. It will show him that word gets out.

> >

> > As a side note, my husband found an article on the duPont site

>where a child was misdiagnosed with metatarsus adductus and treated

>for it for six months before they figured out that it was skewfoot -

>which involves the heel as well as the forefoot and is a whole

>different thing alltogether. The case file of course goes on to

>state how successful BLAH BLAH BLAH. Apparently it isnt uncommon for

>them to screw things up. Check it out yourself

>http://gait.aidi.udel.edu/res695/homepage/pd_ortho/educate/clincase/sk

>ew2htm

> >

> > Angel

> >

> > (Long) Rant about meeting with duPont

>Ortho. Chairman

> >

> >

> > OK, I have been stewing on something for more than a month now and

>I'm still

> > mad about it so I thought maybe a rant would help! After we had

>such a

> > terrible time with duPont hospital in Delaware, and we switched to

>Iowa, I saw

> > such major differences between the levels of care Devlin received.

>I really

> > thought duPont could benefit from our experience and that other

>clubfoot

> > babies---especially Atypical Clubfoot babies---could be treated

>more

> > effectively if the doctors at duPont were more aware of the true

>Ponseti

> > treatment. You all know what I'm talking about---spreading the

>word for the

> > benefit of others.

> >

> > We called duPont's patient services and worked through the ranks,

>finally

> > getting an appointment with the head of Orthopedics at the hospital

>(Dr.

> > Bower). The guy claimed to be interested in finding out about our

> > experiences there and why we were dissatisfied. I talked to Dr.

>Ponseti

> > before the meeting to ask what specific points I should drive in.

>He offered to

> > train someone from duPont if they would send them out for 2 weeks

>or so and

> > I was all excited to suggest that to the guy. I put together the

>log we had been

> > keeping and included color pictures for illustration. I took it

>all to him to show

> > him what went wrong (and right) with Devlin's treatment.

> >

> > What a joke of a meeting! The jerk really " put us in our place " .

>Dr. Bower said

> > that Dr. Ponseti was someone you could see only if you " had enough

>money

> > to lay on the table to get his attention " and that the Ponseti

>method has never

> > worked because " he has never found a brace that can hold the

>correction "

> > and that " even right now he's working with big orthotics

>manufacturers trying

> > to develop something that will work " (I think would be

>impressed to find

> > out that he's a " big orthotics company " ). Bower said that

>if " Ponseti couldn't

> > find a brace by now, after all these years, he never will " . He

>also said that the

> > University of Iowa " has to let him do what he wants because of his

>senior

> > status there " and that they are " indulging him " by letting him

>continue to

> > practice. Finally, he said that Dr. Ponseti's method will die with

>him. I was so

> > pissed I could barely speak. I did manage to say " really? tell

>that to the

> > troops of doctors from around the world we always see there. " But

>the jerk

> > just kept cutting us off and smirking at our naivety.

> >

> > I don't even need to tell everyone here how absurd everything the

>guy had to

> > say was. We could tell that the only purpose of the meeting was to

>see if we

> > had grounds or intentions for a lawsuit. I'm so mad at this point

>I want to sue

> > just to make them learn how much more they need to know about

>clubfoot

> > treatment!

> >

> > Anyway, feeling rather unempowered, I decided I had to do SOMETHING

> > about duPont so I put the log and the pictures up on my web site.

>You can

> > see it at www.cseel.com/clubfoot/ The search engines are starting

>to pick it up

> > and if you do a google search for " clubfoot dupont " ours is the 3rd

>result. Dr.

> > Bower may feel like he silenced us, but I beg to differ!

> >

> > Anyway, thank you for being a forum for my rant! I know everyone

>here is as

> > offended and incensed about Bower's Ponseti comments as I am. I

>just can't

> > believe guys like this control the future and the fate of so many

>unsuspecting

> > babies and their parents. Let's continue to spread the word about

>proper

> > clubfoot treatment and stop the few " God-complex " surgeons from

>maintaining

> > their status...

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I'd like to see it.

s.

(Long) Rant about meeting with duPont

>Ortho. Chairman

> >

> >

> > OK, I have been stewing on something for more than a month now and

>I'm still

> > mad about it so I thought maybe a rant would help! After we had

>such a

> > terrible time with duPont hospital in Delaware, and we switched to

>Iowa, I saw

> > such major differences between the levels of care Devlin received.

>I really

> > thought duPont could benefit from our experience and that other

>clubfoot

> > babies---especially Atypical Clubfoot babies---could be treated

>more

> > effectively if the doctors at duPont were more aware of the true

>Ponseti

> > treatment. You all know what I'm talking about---spreading the

>word for the

> > benefit of others.

> >

> > We called duPont's patient services and worked through the ranks,

>finally

> > getting an appointment with the head of Orthopedics at the hospital

>(Dr.

> > Bower). The guy claimed to be interested in finding out about our

> > experiences there and why we were dissatisfied. I talked to Dr.

>Ponseti

> > before the meeting to ask what specific points I should drive in.

>He offered to

> > train someone from duPont if they would send them out for 2 weeks

>or so and

> > I was all excited to suggest that to the guy. I put together the

>log we had been

> > keeping and included color pictures for illustration. I took it

>all to him to show

> > him what went wrong (and right) with Devlin's treatment.

> >

> > What a joke of a meeting! The jerk really " put us in our place " .

>Dr. Bower said

> > that Dr. Ponseti was someone you could see only if you " had enough

>money

> > to lay on the table to get his attention " and that the Ponseti

>method has never

> > worked because " he has never found a brace that can hold the

>correction "

> > and that " even right now he's working with big orthotics

>manufacturers trying

> > to develop something that will work " (I think would be

>impressed to find

> > out that he's a " big orthotics company " ). Bower said that

>if " Ponseti couldn't

> > find a brace by now, after all these years, he never will " . He

>also said that the

> > University of Iowa " has to let him do what he wants because of his

>senior

> > status there " and that they are " indulging him " by letting him

>continue to

> > practice. Finally, he said that Dr. Ponseti's method will die with

>him. I was so

> > pissed I could barely speak. I did manage to say " really? tell

>that to the

> > troops of doctors from around the world we always see there. " But

>the jerk

> > just kept cutting us off and smirking at our naivety.

> >

> > I don't even need to tell everyone here how absurd everything the

>guy had to

> > say was. We could tell that the only purpose of the meeting was to

>see if we

> > had grounds or intentions for a lawsuit. I'm so mad at this point

>I want to sue

> > just to make them learn how much more they need to know about

>clubfoot

> > treatment!

> >

> > Anyway, feeling rather unempowered, I decided I had to do SOMETHING

> > about duPont so I put the log and the pictures up on my web site.

>You can

> > see it at www.cseel.com/clubfoot/ The search engines are starting

>to pick it up

> > and if you do a google search for " clubfoot dupont " ours is the 3rd

>result. Dr.

> > Bower may feel like he silenced us, but I beg to differ!

> >

> > Anyway, thank you for being a forum for my rant! I know everyone

>here is as

> > offended and incensed about Bower's Ponseti comments as I am. I

>just can't

> > believe guys like this control the future and the fate of so many

>unsuspecting

> > babies and their parents. Let's continue to spread the word about

>proper

> > clubfoot treatment and stop the few " God-complex " surgeons from

>maintaining

> > their status...

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I would like to see the letter, too. I went to see Dr. Ponseti for

my 4 mth old after concerns I was having w/ my daughter's casting w/

her first doctor. I would like to send him a letter to sway him to

stick to the Ponseti method, w/out modifications!

> > > I let my husband read this. That is, after I picked my chin

up off

> >the floor. His first reaction was to look up duPont, look up Dr

> >Bower, and send him an e-mail detailing exactly how wrong and

> >insulting he was. Unfortuntely he doesnt have an e-mail address

> >listed. He DOES, however, have a mailing address listed. Other's

> >can join in if they wish, I think it might make some impact if he

got

> >a whole bunch of letters about this. We will be sending one -

very

> >detailed and with photos.

> > >

> > > It probably will not change his mind in the least, but it WILL

show

> >him that you can't expect to shut up a parent with your " superior

> >knowledge " and get away with it. It will show him that word gets

out.

> > >

> > > As a side note, my husband found an article on the duPont site

> >where a child was misdiagnosed with metatarsus adductus and

treated

> >for it for six months before they figured out that it was

skewfoot -

> >which involves the heel as well as the forefoot and is a whole

> >different thing alltogether. The case file of course goes on to

> >state how successful BLAH BLAH BLAH. Apparently it isnt uncommon

for

> >them to screw things up. Check it out yourself

>

>http://gait.aidi.udel.edu/res695/homepage/pd_ortho/educate/clincase/

sk

> >ew2htm

> > >

> > > Angel

> > >

> > > (Long) Rant about meeting with

duPont

> >Ortho. Chairman

> > >

> > >

> > > OK, I have been stewing on something for more than a month now

and

> >I'm still

> > > mad about it so I thought maybe a rant would help! After we

had

> >such a

> > > terrible time with duPont hospital in Delaware, and we

switched to

> >Iowa, I saw

> > > such major differences between the levels of care Devlin

received.

> >I really

> > > thought duPont could benefit from our experience and that other

> >clubfoot

> > > babies---especially Atypical Clubfoot babies---could be treated

> >more

> > > effectively if the doctors at duPont were more aware of the

true

> >Ponseti

> > > treatment. You all know what I'm talking about---spreading the

> >word for the

> > > benefit of others.

> > >

> > > We called duPont's patient services and worked through the

ranks,

> >finally

> > > getting an appointment with the head of Orthopedics at the

hospital

> >(Dr.

> > > Bower). The guy claimed to be interested in finding out about

our

> > > experiences there and why we were dissatisfied. I talked to

Dr.

> >Ponseti

> > > before the meeting to ask what specific points I should drive

in.

> >He offered to

> > > train someone from duPont if they would send them out for 2

weeks

> >or so and

> > > I was all excited to suggest that to the guy. I put together

the

> >log we had been

> > > keeping and included color pictures for illustration. I took

it

> >all to him to show

> > > him what went wrong (and right) with Devlin's treatment.

> > >

> > > What a joke of a meeting! The jerk really " put us in our

place " .

> >Dr. Bower said

> > > that Dr. Ponseti was someone you could see only if you " had

enough

> >money

> > > to lay on the table to get his attention " and that the Ponseti

> >method has never

> > > worked because " he has never found a brace that can hold the

> >correction "

> > > and that " even right now he's working with big orthotics

> >manufacturers trying

> > > to develop something that will work " (I think would be

> >impressed to find

> > > out that he's a " big orthotics company " ). Bower said that

> >if " Ponseti couldn't

> > > find a brace by now, after all these years, he never will " . He

> >also said that the

> > > University of Iowa " has to let him do what he wants because of

his

> >senior

> > > status there " and that they are " indulging him " by letting him

> >continue to

> > > practice. Finally, he said that Dr. Ponseti's method will die

with

> >him. I was so

> > > pissed I could barely speak. I did manage to say " really?

tell

> >that to the

> > > troops of doctors from around the world we always see there. "

But

> >the jerk

> > > just kept cutting us off and smirking at our naivety.

> > >

> > > I don't even need to tell everyone here how absurd everything

the

> >guy had to

> > > say was. We could tell that the only purpose of the meeting

was to

> >see if we

> > > had grounds or intentions for a lawsuit. I'm so mad at this

point

> >I want to sue

> > > just to make them learn how much more they need to know about

> >clubfoot

> > > treatment!

> > >

> > > Anyway, feeling rather unempowered, I decided I had to do

SOMETHING

> > > about duPont so I put the log and the pictures up on my web

site.

> >You can

> > > see it at www.cseel.com/clubfoot/ The search engines are

starting

> >to pick it up

> > > and if you do a google search for " clubfoot dupont " ours is

the 3rd

> >result. Dr.

> > > Bower may feel like he silenced us, but I beg to differ!

> > >

> > > Anyway, thank you for being a forum for my rant! I know

everyone

> >here is as

> > > offended and incensed about Bower's Ponseti comments as I am.

I

> >just can't

> > > believe guys like this control the future and the fate of so

many

> >unsuspecting

> > > babies and their parents. Let's continue to spread the word

about

> >proper

> > > clubfoot treatment and stop the few " God-complex " surgeons from

> >maintaining

> > > their status...

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I was thinking of writing a letter to Dr Bowen, hoping

that he might think again when even people from the UK

are writing to him.

I just don't seem to find the time to look up any

statistics etc that I could send him, so I would be

very grateful if you could send me a copy of your

letter, if you don't mind me copying some of it...

Thanks a lot,

, UK

with and Alister (*11 Sep 02, RCF)

--- Wray hwray98@...> wrote:

> If you would like a copy of the

> letter I can email it to

> you to see what I mean about providing

> statistical/factual information.

>

>

>

___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo!

Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I was thinking of writing a letter to Dr Bowen, hoping

that he might think again when even people from the UK

are writing to him.

I just don't seem to find the time to look up any

statistics etc that I could send him, so I would be

very grateful if you could send me a copy of your

letter, if you don't mind me copying some of it...

Thanks a lot,

, UK

with and Alister (*11 Sep 02, RCF)

--- Wray hwray98@...> wrote:

> If you would like a copy of the

> letter I can email it to

> you to see what I mean about providing

> statistical/factual information.

>

>

>

___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo!

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[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I was thinking of writing a letter to Dr Bowen, hoping

that he might think again when even people from the UK

are writing to him.

I just don't seem to find the time to look up any

statistics etc that I could send him, so I would be

very grateful if you could send me a copy of your

letter, if you don't mind me copying some of it...

Thanks a lot,

, UK

with and Alister (*11 Sep 02, RCF)

--- Wray hwray98@...> wrote:

> If you would like a copy of the

> letter I can email it to

> you to see what I mean about providing

> statistical/factual information.

>

>

>

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