These are extracts from two of several complaints that have come in during the year, against the accused municipal superintendent. He was stripped of his authorization in mid-July and charged with obtaining sexual intercourse at the end of August. In several of the notifications, the women have reacted that the visit to the doctor ended up with GU, even though they believe they had other complaints. news can now document that the accused doctor is the GP in Trøndelag who has carried out the most gynecological examinations in the period 2014–2021. One of the few men This is how a third woman explains her meeting with the municipal superintendent. She describes several inappropriate episodes. The doctor denies criminal responsibility. news has analyzed the number of reimbursed gynecological examinations at 1,347 GPs in Trøndelag. At the top of the list we find the municipal superintendent who has been charged: The doctor had 1,494 gynecological examinations during this period. He had 850 patients on his list before he was temporarily suspended Only two other male GPs are in the top 50 on the list – in 9th place and 24th place (with 1290 and 1026 examinations respectively). These two male GPs have 2,400 patients and 1,400 patients The rest of the list consists of female GPs Trønder-Avisa has previously discussed parts of the figures. – Can cause more discomfort – There is no reason to have a gynecological examination unless you have complaints from or disease in the lower abdomen, or have received a letter from the cancer registry about a pap smear. That’s what gynecologist Kirsten Hald says. She is deputy chairperson of the Norwegian Gynecological Association and has, among other things, worked with a campaign called “Make wise choices”. – This means that you should not overtreat patients, or do unnecessary gynecological examinations. It can create more discomfort and anxiety, and in the worst case make a healthy woman sick. Hald points out that she is not aware of the case about the Trønder municipal superintendent from before, and that she can only comment on a general basis. Several of the women describe unnecessary gynecological examinations. Photo: Nareas Sae-Khow / news – Never heard of In some of the complaints, a method the doctor used has also been highlighted. The doctor is said to have treated the women for cysts in the abdomen by massaging them. This should help the cysts to empty. – Gynecological examinations should initially be carried out by GPs. But if you have to treat, you must be referred to specialists. GPs should never treat cysts in the abdomen, and I have never heard of massage as a treatment for this. She adds that there can be many different reasons why many such investigations are carried out. – Whether it is professional incompetence, money or abuse that is the motivation behind it will only be speculation. But this case doesn’t sound good anyway, says Hald. Top of several lists If we divide the number of reimbursed gynecological examinations by the number of patients that the 1,347 general practitioners in Trønder have on their list, we find the following among the top 50 doctors: The charged municipal superintendent is also at the top of this list with his 850 patients The rest of the general practitioners on the list is made up of female GPs – mainly in their 40s and 60s The next male on the list is number 51 In 2014-2016, the municipal superintendent had 1,700 patients on his list of doctors. After calculating per year, this does not amount to major differences from the figures that have come out from GP Christine Agdestein in the General Practitioner’s Association. Photo: Sigrun Hofstad / news – Great variety Christine Agdestein is a board member of the General Medical Association and general manager of the Sjøsia medical office in Steinkjer. She has been presented with the figures from news, but only comments on a general basis. She has several theories about why many female doctors are on the top lists. – There are several things that can contribute to the fact that female doctors do more gynecological examinations on average than male doctors. There is great variation between the patient lists of the GPs, she says and adds: – Some have many young women, others have an older population. It largely affects which procedures are carried out. Therefore, there will be great variation. Do you have something to tell? We would like to hear from you if you have anything to say about this matter. Perhaps you would like to have a non-binding chat with one of our journalists who works on this? Send us an e-mail The lawyer for the accused doctor, Erlend Hjulstad Nilsen, will not comment on details of the case or the figures presented by news. – We cannot do that for fear of breaching confidentiality, says Nilsen. He adds that the accused municipal superintendent wants to be questioned quickly so that he can give his version and counter the many claims that have come to light through the notifications. More notices The state administrator in Trøndelag received a notice against the municipal superintendent in November 2021. The notice was forwarded to the State Health Inspectorate, which opened an inspection case on 28 April. The Norwegian Health Authority suspended the doctor’s authorization on 18 July. Then the doctor must have taken out a sick leave immediately. On 1 August, the doctor received a letter stating that he had been suspended from his municipal positions “with immediate effect”. There have also been cases against the accused doctor in the past. The first in 2006/2007. Then the Norwegian Health Authority opened an inspection case following reports from three women. Since November 2021, the State Administrator in Trøndelag has received several notifications against the municipal superintendent. This is how news has analyzed the figures from Helfo The state agency Helfo accepts, among other things, reimbursements from GPs after completed investigations. news has requested access to an overview of the use of rate code 103b (gynecological examinations) for GPs with an office address in Trøndelag, in the period 2014-2021. The figures show that 1,347 GPs have carried out over 210,000 gynecological examinations in the course of eight years. news has analyzed the figures and found the GPs who have received the most reimbursements during this period, and then divided it by the number of patients. Since the patient list for the various GPs varies over time, our findings must be taken with reservations. In addition, news has removed non-comparable doctors from the list (specialists).
ttn-69
Accused of an unnecessary number of examinations – the accused doctor tops the list in Trøndelag – news Trøndelag
