Thanks for other patients' medical records too. I really didn't need this experience. : Wed love for the hashtag #DropRumer to trend. They went to Dr. Rumer for bottom surgery in 2014 because the surgeon had the shortest wait time of all of the options presented by their parents insurance plan. Crozer Chester Medical Center 1 Medical Center Blvd Chester, PA 19013. Kathy Griffin has made a name for herself in the comedy industry and uses her celebrity encounters to make fans laugh during shows. One of the ways we create uniform standards has to be an open exchange of ideas, says Dr. Ting, of Mt. People dont want to talk about complications in their marketing presentations.. Dont feel comfortable putting public pressure on Rumer and her enablers and still want to help? The subpoena demanded I turn over all notes, emails, documents and research referencing Dr. Rumer or her practice. Before the explosion in insurance coverage in the late 2010s, most surgeons operated on a cash basis, which forced them to compete in an actual marketplace. Nobody in that ward knew how to deal with peoples trauma, she says. I used to be able to get to the 4th dot on the medium-size dilator, and the 3rd dot on the largest dilator. A revision procedure with a different surgeon was unsuccessful in repairing Dr. Rumers initial work, even causing additional issues, and Simpson was left without a clitoris. Within the trans and medical communities, he says, Everyone is really not sure how to present that information and not sure what is going to happen when that information does get fully presented. he says. Cis people generally associate transitioning with extensive surgeries, but transition-related surgical procedures are very rarely approved for trans people under age 18. According to a 2018 study, the percentage of trans people who end up regretting vaginoplasty is about 1 percent, significantly lower than your average knee surgery. According to Brittanica, the Oak Park, Illinois native began her . And even then, website administrators are sometimes nervous to host negative remarks against a specific surgeon, fearing a potential libel suit. While Danielles complaints centered on her experience with post-op care within the hospital, others found themselves struggling to deal with serious complications, including fistulas and incontinence after surgery. Her legal firm is Roger's Castor who represented Trump after his impeachment and this case is being brought before an anti LGBTQ Trump appointed judge. For the people Jezebel spoke to who said they experienced poor surgical outcomes, there wasnt much opportunity to get answers. She said it would be like starting from scratch again, as if it was the a brand new bottom-surgery. Top and Bottom and no butchering. Oct 2020 - 1-year update: Kathy (or someone from her staff) found this post and emailed me to complain about it only 20 days after it was posted (and after around 2 years of complications at that point). Most, understandably, declined to comment, but three who wished to remain anonymous had collectively seen more than 50 patients who had originally gone to Dr. Rumer for GRS since 2016. The details of the arbitration proceedings and their outcomes are not public; none of the plaintiffs in the cases against Dr. Rumers practice returned multiple requests for an interview. . I hope you can appreciate that from our perspective, these facts understandably lead to questions about the integrity of your inquiry and article. (By the time I reached out to Rumer for comment, we had been working on versions of this story intermittently for over a year, and the we was clearly meant to refer to the reporter and Jezebel together, as is common practice.). and our After learning of its existence, Carlie joked that shes a graphic designer by trade and if she had made the site it wouldnt look so shit.. (855) R U A LOOKER Phone: (855) 782-5665. So people cant really compare one surgeon to another in that context. A few months later, she said she never said that. The step back, he says, is that some surgeons may not opt to train in the most rigorous environments: They dont join WPATH. She says she initially turned to Reddit to post about her experience with Dr. Rumer, but then trans exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) ended up sharing her post in the GenderCritical sub-reddit, a recently banned forum that had become ground zero for TERF rhetoric. Ever hear of HIPAA? Carlie chose a surgeon, Dr. Kathy Rumer, who was based in the Philadelphia area and specialized in gender-affirming procedures. . Dr. Rumer was referring to World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH, the organization that sets out guidelines and best practices for trans-related health worldwide. Its an institutional framework that doesnt fit the current challenges, says Green. Any lawyers reading this??? Advocates describe a patchwork of surgical practices and transgender centers for excellence overseen by local hospitals and state medical boards. As a result, only a handful of specialists in the U.S. even offered bottom surgery in the first place, catering to a narrow pool of patients who could actually afford the procedure. Congressperson Rep. Jamie Raskin has been taking an interest in Rumers SLAPP suits and abuses and would love to hear from you. Dr. Rumer has even blatantly admitted in court to her false advertising without consequence. Heyers publication of the OSHU complaint put a serious dent in talks with the hospital, and shocked the post-op patients who had been looking to start a dialogue with the hospital. Dr. Kathy L. Rumer is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon in the Philadelphia tri-state area who has deep experience with gender reassignment surgery and a practice that is geared exclusively toward transgender patients. I endured months of intense physical therapy and very uncomfortable tests to prepare for revision surgery. You can always catch up on Botched here!. It was mortifying, she says, noting that she never gave Heyer permission to publish her complaint. (THANK YOU!) Specialties: Dr. Rumer, a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, is a renowned transgender surgical specialist. According to the report, surgeons offering gender-affirming surgeries should undergo extensive training, including seminar, office, practical, and aftercare sessions, as well as ongoing continuing education. Each of those disciplines have separate boards responsible for certification. Without a set fellowship or apprenticeship guideline from WPATH or any other professional body, theres a broad range of standards for surgeries that patients will have to live with for the rest of their lives. What is wrong with this staff?! She holds degrees in mathematics, engineering and . You all don't know how many times I've had to call my insurance company and then start a 3-way conference call with Dr. Rumer's office. We look forward to hearing from you! Sinai. Ardmore, PA 19003. This has been an extremely traumatizing experience for me. Worse yet, Lake is possibly getting kickbacks for every patient she refers to Rumer. Protected by Google ReCAPTCHA. Dr. Rumer butchered me and dealing with her office to get a resolution has been a fucking NIGHTMARE. While insurance coverage for GRS has benefited countless lives, an unintentional side effect has been what Dr. Marci Bowers, a San Francisco-based gender surgeon who has been practicing for three decades, refers to as a culture of permissiveness: As far as an insurance company goes, if the patient survived the operation, leaves the hospital in a prescribed amount of time, and doesnt die of some hideous complication or is not readmitted multiple times, she says, that is their measure of success. Providers like Dr. Rumer, she says, understand the industry and sign contracts to become preferred providers, effectively funnelling new patients into their practice based on these metrics. Its the insurance system, its the way people get paid. Rumer left a lot of erectile tissue under my labia minora, which can be a problem, Rose says. This was my first Reddit post from what was really intended to be an anonymous account. While nobody has died at the hands of Rumer (as far as we know) She has left many of us mangled and broken. We may earn a commission from links on this page. A few days later, Carlie and her mother say they heard from the doctor, who was on vacation and told Carlie she shouldnt be concerned. The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks damages of not less than $75,000, costs, pre-judgment and post judgment interest and other relief. The Life and Sad Ending of Cathy Lee CrosbyCathy Lee Crosby was born on December 2, 1944, in Los Angeles, California.Graduate of the University Of Southern C. Rather than focusing on producing the best possible patient experience, the marketplace model encouraged these surgeons to become sales people for their own work. Without that key element, insurance coverage questions are left to regional decision boards, often comprised of insurance company representatives and public health officials who may harbor anti-trans beliefs they want to institutionalize. She has now consulted with, by her own count, 36 surgeons about fixing her genitalia. Phone: (855) 782-5665. The timing, content, and nature of your emails suggest you are likely working with this individual (either knowingly or unknowingly) in carrying out this defamatory campaign, wrote Dr. Rumers attorney in an email on January 31. The Butcher of Ardmore has continued for long enough. Feel free to make flyers to warn your local trans support groups and clinics. Dr. Kathy L. Rumer is trusted by her patients for ethical, high quality care. I've explained to them every moment my symptoms have gotten worse and worse. I think this will be my only update. The experience has left her disillusioned with the medical profession and she is no longer pursuing a medical degree. ALBANY - A political guru recently exposed as a main adviser to Gov. This years Trans Health Conference in Philly should also be a priority. That being said, I feel as practitioners in this very small and new field, we have to police ourselves and maintain standards.. There needs to be a national organization of healthcare professionals. As a physician nobody likes malpractice suits, says Dr. Ting. Complaint. The modern technique for vaginoplasty was developed over 100 years ago in Europe and has been practiced in the United States for at least the last 50 years. (For full disclosure: I paid $100 for a surgical consultation over Skype with Dr. Rumer in late September 2017 but ultimately decided to go with another surgeon.). In finding a doctor to perform a surgery prospective patients like Carlie are largely on their own. Do not worry, direct action takes on many forms. In addition to performing hundreds of gender-affirming procedures each year, Dr. Rumer also directs a 1-year . Scan this QR code to download the app now. Spoiler: NSFW. TALK TO A REALSELF ADVISOR. Despite Dr. Rumers insistence that everything was fine Simpson developed necrosis of the vulva. Please help! Last time I saw her, she said she wanted to take some of my belly fat for a skin graft in my vagina, and it would take another year to heal. She is using an anonymous blogger as a justification to target and intimidate her low income patients who cant afford a legal council and cant afford to go public with this. The suits described humiliation and severe psychological trauma as a result of Dr. Rumers work, and each originally demanded a jury trial but was eventually submitted for voluntary private arbitration. Rumer falls short in some terrifying waysblaming the patients for their surgical complications, anger and hostility towards those who complain, lack of availability or accountability. Dr. Rumer, she adds, also understands the vulnerability of patients who desperately desire surgery in a climate of still relatively few surgeons.. So, sorry in advance. There is so much more to this story, but I'm moving on. Rumer Cosmetic Surgery 105 Ardmore Ave Ardmore, PA 19003. Even beyond trans rights, denying a patients right to free speech is reprehensible. Rule 5: This sub is by and for trans people. Bottom surgery for both transfeminine and transmasculine people is multidisciplinary in nature, requiring plastic surgical, urological, and gynecological experience. Disclaimer: All of the phone numbers posted are their public business numbers. Our surgeons strive for perfection, but occasionally there are complications, he says. Share this post! Show them what happens when you mess with a community that is used to fighting for their existence on a daily basis. I have literally emailed and called Dr. Rumer's office over 100 times. I also quite possibly need a lawyer. A 2018 study by researchers at Harvard University and Johns Hopkins indicated that the number of trans-affirming surgeries showed significant growth between 2000 and 2014, with an increasing number of them paid for through private insurance or Medicaid. Simpsons complaints about Dr. Rumers work are similar to those alleged by other former patients who spoke with Jezebel. (Do not EVER contact me again.) A sub for the discussion of surgeries, surgery results, surgeon satisfaction and the costs incurred by transgender people. Over time, we have participated in several in-person meetings with individuals and groups. Since 2016 the blog has intermittently posted figures in Guy Fawkes masks, the doctors home address, and linked to public reports about the surgeons work. Insurance coverage often dictates where patients receive care, as it did for Danielle, a 42-year-old trans woman who lives in Portland, Oregon, and depends on Medicaid. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. In the highly politicized world of gender-affirming surgery, answers about standard measures of care can be hard to find. Dr. Rumers attorney, Lance Rogers, wrote in a status report on July 31 that his office had additionally subpoenaed Google, CloudFlarean internet service providerand an unnamed domain registration site to gain access to the identity of the anonymous blogger, as well as retain the services of an expert in advanced investigative computer techniques. The case remains pending. It doesnt really look like a vulva. Even other doctors, they say, will end up at least once trying to stick a finger in my urethra because its not obvious., Rose says that Dr. Rumer didnt construct a clitoral hood, leaving their clitoris completely exposed to irritation. Rumer goes, I followed the WPATH guidelines on how to treat my patients. Its who decides how the operating theater in the hospital is going to be used, what kind of surgeries they are going to do., They make those decisions and we have to just live with it, he said, and work around these things., None of that matters to Carlie, who has scuttled plans for other transition-related surgeries, like facial feminization, thanks to her experience with Dr. Rumer. Legal threats havent only been directed towards anonymous trolls and reporters: Dr. Bowers shared a 2018 email written by Dr. Rumer alleging written defamation and threatening a libel lawsuit after the surgeon commented on Dr. Rumer in a consultation with one of Rumers former patients. We would mostly suggest putting pressure on Sultan Shakir, the sitting president of Mazzoni, We highly recommend calling the health center despite this. View attachment 2462301 View attachment 2462306 Stitches left inside the vagina, which had to be removed later by another doctor in a revision surgery: View attachment 2462304 View attachment 2462305. This is a great one to share. Get botched by the butcher, get sued if you speak out. And pursuing formal action against the surgeon isnt going to do anything to make up for what happened., I should have done more, she says, but I just had to move on with my life.. Rogers Counsel, Rumers Right-Wing Attack Dogs: Did a loved one of yours recently have a surgery with Rumer that they are afraid to speak out about due to how litigious Kathy is? This standard is followed by all medical centers and defined by national accrediting agencies, he says. I SHOULD HAVE HAD THIS WHEN THE DOCTOR ORIGINALLY TOLD ME OVER A YEAR AGO. In a follow-up appointment and then again in a subsequent email which Simpson shared with Jezebel, Dr. Rumer blamed the dead skin on a pair of too-tight Depends Simpson had worn in the hospital, which Simpson believes was a way to dodge the issue. Cookie Notice Dr. Kathy Rumer DO is a surgeon in eastern PA who has made a lucrative living performing GCS surgeries, the majority of which are rushed and have shoddy outcomes which leave the patients with lifelong injuries. . Providing an Invaluable service to the trans community also means listening to the trans community, nothing for us, without us. Below are my current symptons. Her follow-up appointment, a week after the surgery, was administered by a nurse. Intersex people who have related surgical interests may post. Currently, I barely have a fucking vagina. On June 12, a newly finalized HHS rule which eliminated gender identity non-discrimination protections within the Affordable Care Act recently garnered over 200,000 public comments. Some, like Gaines Blasdel, a consultant who worked in an LGBTQ primary care center helping patients access gender-affirming surgery and who organized the open letter to WPATH in 2018, suggest a centers of excellence model, in which insurance companies and professional organizations collaborate to ensure insurance would only be paid out to surgeons who participated in a dedicated program. They graduated from PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE and is affiliated with Lankenau Medical Center, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Delaware County Memorial Hospital. Spread the word. He botched me and many others and killed a few. 1. Dr. Dugi notes that staff concerns about the quality and outcome of care are elevated to a peer review process, which can be escalated further to an institutional peer review committee. I note that while you are a self-described freelance journalist, you utilize the pronoun the plural pronoun we (e.g. Rumer has also been paying Google and advertising services top dollar to bury negative articles about her and in some cases even delete negative reviews. Any association with this doctor deserves to be career ending and we need to make it a statement that anyone who aids and abets Rumer is to be heckled and shamed. It's hard to remember, but we were starting to discuss choosing a revision date right around the end of December 2018/early 2019. In one case, according to a pre-trial memo, attorneys intended to bring Dr. Jess Ting, a surgeon and medical school professor specializing in GRS at Mt. Dr. Kathy Rumer, a reconstructive surgeon and aesthetician based in Philadelphia, agrees. Sinai, to the stand. PLLC, d/b/a Rumer Cosmetic Surgery, and Kathy Rumer, DO, FACOS, by and through their counsel, ROGERS CASTOR, hereby brings this action at law and respectfully aver the following facts: Page 5 . This person seems to have botched life changing surgery for some of her patients and is now retaliating legally because these patients made their experiences known to warn other trans . Specifically, the hospital started a community advisory board comprising of local trans and gender non-conforming people who consult with staff and leaders from OHSUs Transgender Health Program, patient relations department, and other relevant parties. Kathy also has a long standing reputation for ghosting and victim blaming her patients whenever complications arise. This doctor is not currently accepting. Tell her staff how you feel. The next morning, she called the emergency number she had been given and sent an email to Dr. Rumers office. Privacy Policy. Each of the plaintiffs described strictures and damages to their urethras, vaginal cavities, and labias along with bulges or misshapen clitoral hoods, issues characterized as permanent injury such that the plaintiffs would never have sexual function again.. And according to Green, theres little incentive for university hospitals and other medical research centers to invest in research and training on trans-related health issues if the government could turn around tomorrow and end multiple funding sources on the whims of an ideologically driven political appointee. Kathy Rumer can no longer call herself an "ally" of our community when she is working with right wing lawyers to silence and intimidate her own patients. There is a larger concern that is poised to swell as demand for GRS grows: that without a specific reporting mechanism for patients who feel wronged or an institutional body tasked with regulating the specifics of trans-affirmative care, patients who seek these surgeries are locked in a devils bargain, unable to be assured of the quality of care when they sign on and unclear how to move forward when theyre unhappy with the results. TRIGGER WARNINGS: BOTCHED MEDICAL PROBLEMS. The Newsletter Bringing the Legal System to Light. When problems occur, speaking out about such a private issue can be difficultCarlie requested a pseudonym, concerned about harassment and being identified publicly with such an intimate issue in the press. Rumers litigiousness isnt unique among surgeons, and the environment can make it difficult for many trans people to find recourse, or warn others about bad surgical experiences. and our Privacy Policy. (855) 782-5665. We all have complications, things dont always come out the way we want them to. But when Jezebel reached out to Dr. Rumer with a detailed list of questions and patient allegations, we heard back from a lawyer instead. Dr. Dugi tells Jezebel that surgical complications at the hospital are tracked and used to improve outcomes and that their complication rates are in line with or better than the published results of other expert surgeons. Find out if Rumer is attending a trans health conference style convention in your city and let it be known that this doctor is not welcome in any queer space. Ive been warning people off Rumer as much as I can, says Ember Rose, a 28-year-old non-binary person from Boston. And I think at some point there will be a governing board of some form, probably in the next five to ten years. In 1979, Johns Hopkins stopped offering GRS for political reasons despite being one of the leading-edge American hospitals to develop the practice. PHILADELPHIA A patient is suing Dr. Kathy Rumer and Delaware Valley Aesthetics PLLC, which does business as Rumer Cosmetic Surgery, citing alleged medical negligence. About 2 weeks before I was supposed to have revision surgery, Dr. Rumer's associate (or family member?) Medicaid sent her to see Dr. Daniel Dugi in Portland, who she says informed her that she was his 12th transgender vaginoplasty patient ever.
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