Surgeon in Trouble for Snapping and Passing Pix of Patient's Genital Tattoo

And not just any surgeon—the chief resident of general surgery at the Mayo Clinic Arizona!

Mayo Clinic Hospital administrators said Dr. Adam Hansen, chief resident of general surgery, admitted taking the photo with his cell phone on Dec. 11. The tattoo on strip club owner Sean Dubowik's penis reads: "Hot Rod."

…"I got a strange call after my surgery from a doctor who said there was a problem. He said Hansen was on the phone and would explain," he said. Dubowik, 27, said Hansen told him he took the picture while inserting a catheter into his penis [during a gallbladder operation]. A member of the surgical staff made an anonymous call about the photo to The Arizona Republic on Monday.

"He told me he didn't want me to read about it in the newspaper first," Dubowik said.

How considerate. I believe that is, in fact, part of the Hippocratic Oath. "I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. But if I fail to respect my patients' privacy, I'll make sure to call them first before they read about it in the papers."

Hansen has been placed on administrative leave while the clinic investigates his egregious breach of patient privacy. It sounds to me like they could do with an investigation into their own responsiveness to complaints about staff, given the whistleblower's decision to call the paper, either before informing administration or after informing them and being ignored.