Doctor Who Performed Surgery on Ashley X Kills Himself
Dr. Daniel Gunther, the doctor who was at the center of the controversial medical procedures performed on a severely disabled girl, “Ashley X,” committed suicide on September 30. As reported in today’s MSN news, Dr. Gunther was 49 years old and a pediatric endocrinologist at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. In 2004 when Ashley was 6, he and a colleague, Dr. Douglas S. Diekema , performed the following procedures at the request of Ashley’s parents: a hysterectomy, removal of breast tissue and hormone treatment to permanently halt her growth. Ashley’s parents wrote about the “Ashley treatment” and their decisions to purposefully stunt her growth on a well-read website. The doctors wrote about the “treatment” in the October 2006 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. In May, Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center has admitted that it broke state law by allowing the surgery to occur.
Ashley is now 9 years old.
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POSTED IN: Disability Rights, Health
7 opinions for Doctor Who Performed Surgery on Ashley X Kills Himself
julie
Oct 11, 2007 at 9:44 am
WOW I am not sure what else to say at this point.
FXSmom
Oct 11, 2007 at 10:44 am
WOW is about all I can say too.
Suzanne
Oct 11, 2007 at 11:11 am
Wow (again)
Amanda M
Oct 11, 2007 at 11:41 am
what a shame he felt he had to take his own life.
Stephen Drake
Oct 11, 2007 at 4:02 pm
The latest story in the Seattle Times includes quotes from a family member that indicates Gunther had struggled with depression for years.
The article is here:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003941272_gunther11m.html
I’ve blogged about it here:
http://notdeadyetnewscommentary.blogspot.com/2007/10/ashley-x-doctor-commits-suicide.html
amy
Oct 12, 2007 at 2:32 am
(sigh) again, the story points to the need for meaningful caregiver support, and the acknowledgment that not everyone can or will be a heroic caregiver.
I read the Ashley story some months back and visited various related sites. As horrifying as the procedure was, and is, I understand the parents’ motivation. This is why I support excellent and widespread genetic testing and readily available abortion services. Many people have a remarkably good sense of their own limits for caregiving in the best of situations, and have no wish to inflict decades-long torments on their children or themselves.
I’m sorry to hear of the suicide.
The Ashley Treatment, Revisited
Mar 14, 2008 at 4:54 am
[…] how to take care of her as she grew older and bigger, had doctors (including endocrinologist Dr. Daniel Gunther, who died last fall) perform the “Ashley Treatment,” in which her uterus and breast buds were removed and estrogen […]
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