United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Thank you all so very much for all of your reassurance and support. It is such a relief to my husband and I to have a network of people who are willing to share their experiences and advice!

My message is a little confusing. I was in a hurry. I was referring to the two doctors being Dr. Shenaq and Dr. Laurent. Sorry about that. Next time I will have to read my message more clearly.

Thank you. I was in a huge hurry when I wrote my message. You are correct, the two doctors were Dr. Shenaq and Dr. Laurent. Thank you for pointing that out for me.

Hello. If you want to contact me via email, I would be happy to share with you what I know.

Mr. Levine, you wrote "I would be pleased to discuss my experience with each doctor."

Do you have a child with a brachial plexus injury who had surgeries with one or more of these doctors?

If so, we would love to hear about your specific and personal experience. And if not, it is highly unethical for you (as an attorney) to be giving advice about which doctor any person should take their child to.

Helen,

That was a little uncalled for. I think Mr. Levine was completely up front about what his experience was with these doctors and what perspective he had. If anyone wants to talk to him about it, they are free to do so. Some might value that perspective. Others can ignore it.

Kate

Kate,

If Mr. Levine was a parent, an opinion like this would be welcomed although it might be up for argument by some. But Mr. Levine is specifically posting for this community as an "expert in his field" and with that comes the responsibility of behaving ethically.

I would be extremely happy to read Mr. Levine's peer-reviewed published statistics of the results of surgical intervention for each of the four doctors for the last 20 years. Let this professional present his information in a professional format rather than tit-for-tat in a private email which may be based on a personal vendetta he may have by singling out one of them.

Helen

Helen,

As far as I can tell, Mr. Levine is being upfront that he is not a parent nor a medical professional, and offering to give his perspective in private conversation. You obviously don't think it would be of any value to you (neither do I, quite frankly). However, I don't think it is up to you or me to decide what information a parent should or should not take into account when making decisions about their child.

As for "personal vendetta"... people definitely need to be cautious about what sort of personal bias might come with this - or ANY - offer of information or guidance. Mr. Levine mentions in his post the "loyalty" that parents might feel towards their child's doctor as one source of personal bias. But even lawyers such as Mr. Levine can have plenty of bias in their perspective as well!

So for the record, I completely agree with your desire to warn people of the need to be careful about considering Mr. Levine's offer. Pointing out that such offers appear to be quite unprofessional and lacking in ethics is also reasonable. However, warnings or suggesting additional considerations are one thing. Suggesting there should be some kind of gag order that eliminates information from any consideration at all is quite another thing.

I don't think anyone is entitled to tell anyone what information they should - or should not - consider when trying to make decisions for their children.

Kate

Kate,

I'm not "suggesting" a gag order at all.

The gag order already exists and it comes directly from the Massachusetts Bar Association Code of Ethics (and any other state Mr. Levine may still be associated with).

Helen

Helen,

Please provide the specific references from the code you cited that says that a lawyer cannot converse with parents about his experience with specific doctors.

Kate


Message was edited by: katep