Horrible Treatment at Rush University Medical Center

Dr. Goodman,

I would like to take this opportunity today to let you know personally why I will never again be a patient at Rush University Medical Center. Today, I was treated with more disrespect by one of your physicians, Dr. Arthur Rhodes, than I have ever experienced. As one of the many morbidly obese people in the country today, I have dealt with a great deal of disrespect, but the humiliation I experienced at the hands of Dr. Rhodes was far and beyond the worst.

I visited Dr. Rhodes to have a check of some moles my wife was concerned about. The first thing he said when he walked in was, “I’m Dr. Rhodes. Boy, have you let yourself go!” Then, without another word or any consideration for my modesty, he took my hospital gown off and began examining me. When we had entered the room, his staff had said that an examination of the genital area was optional, but Dr. Rhodes examined my genitals without even asking permission. Even worse, while examining my penis he told me, “If you lost some weight, you could add a few more inches to that.” He then turned to my wife and said, “Length matters, doesn’t it?”

Dr. Rhodes then asked me to stand up, adding, “But do it carefully -- you’re so big you could tip my table over.” Then, standing there completely nude, in front of a female student doctor, he had me bend over and spread my buttocks open. I have never been more humiliated in my life.

Afterwards, before he even began talking about the moles for which I had been examined, he asked if I was trying to lose weight. However, before I was could compose myself enough to find words, he recommended I have bariatric surgery.

I understand that as a physician, Dr. Rhodes may have felt it was his duty to bring it to my attention that I am obese. At my size, Dr. Goodman, it would be hard not to realize this. If Dr. Rhodes had done even a preliminary patient interview, he would have found out that I have been working closely with my primary care physician, my nutritionist and my personal trainer to lose weight, and that in the past nine months I have lost over 50 pounds. Dr. Rhodes, however, was not interested in finding out anything about me. He walked into his exam room, and saw a fat man that he could berate and humiliate. I will never again be a patient at Rush University Medical Center, and I will be telling every family member, friend, acquaintance and coworker of the horrible way I was treated by your institution. My wife, who was stunned into silence during this encounter, has told me that she has never in her nursing career seen a doctor treat someone with this level of contempt.

At the very least, I deserve an apology from Dr. Rhodes, and in my opinion, he needs some serious counseling and sensitivity training if he is to continue to practice medicine. Obesity is a serious problem, but if all dermatologists act as he does toward obese patients, more of them will be dying of melanoma than of diabetes. This is not “how medicine should be.”

Please do not go to Dr. Arthur Rhodes.