Thanks for the clarification Ed, its not that I can’t appreciate your position. do you think that maybe you could create a generic disclaimer that could be posted in threads that concern you so everyone could stay cool?
Larry
Re titles: My mom is a physician. We prefer one of the following forms of address:
Dr. Lynn and Mr. David McLauchlin
Dr. Lynn McLauchlin and Mr. David McLauchlin
Lynn and David McLauchlin
So, you could use:
Dr. (or Major) Susan and Mr. Dale Goodguy
Dr. Susan Goodguy and Mr. Dale Goodguy
Susan and Dale Goodguy
I presume that since you say you have no problem with Mrs., that you use your husband’s last name. If you didn’t, you could make it
Dr. Susan Pancreas and Mr. Dale Goodguy
Most of this information comes from Judith Martin, a.k.a. Miss Manners.
::sigh::
I think the time has come to close this discussion.
I have tried to provide medical information for those just wondering, those concerned, and those frustrated by a breakdown in communication between themselves & their docs in a good many threads in this, and other forums.
I have always meant to attach a disclaimer specifying that the information provided was meant to foster good exchange of information between individuals & their docs, not replace it. My first response on this thread provided the information the OP requested & advised him to use this information to seek satisfaction from his docs. I can’t swear that I have, since joing this MB in March, done this each and every time, but since the earlier exchanges on this thread, & off-line communications from EZ, I have always put in a disclaimer. I will continue to put in disclaimers; if I forget to do so, I see nothing wrong with a moderator adding a short non-pejorative message reminding posters that they should also seek an evaluation from their physician.
Nickrz’s post in this thread, however, went way beyond a CYA disclaimer. The jabs about misidentifying the OP’s gender were funny & not un-earned; the slur about wondering what the AMA ethics committee thinks about “doctors who routinely treat ‘patients’ sight unseen” was not funny, and went way over the line. I am not holding my breath for an apology. While I appreciate the support expressed by several posters, I now ask that no further posts be made calling for an apology; let’s leave the score-keeping buried (I hope) in the “Explain this one, jodih” thread in the BBQ Pit.
Sue from El Paso
members.aol.com/majormd/index.html
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Sue’s advice was not advice. It was an explanation of the why’s of an accepted medical practice. (And 100% correct, from what I’ve read on the subject.) Since she included the proviso ‘see your doctor’, the Board didn’t need to give any CYA policy statements.
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Jill’s and David’s CYA posts, while not necessary, were in no way ‘ganging up.’ They were polite and moderate in tone. To claim otherwise is irresponsible.
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Nick was out of line and owes Sue an apology. And Ed, you shouldn’t be apologizing for him. Make him suck it up like an adult or find someone with a more civil keyboard.
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Melin, your self-appointed job as administration watchdog is getting old real fast. You may be totally justified in feeling angry over an injustice you may have actually received at the hands of the Board. I don’t know all the details to judge, and I don’t want to know. I do know that you take the opportunity to charge in guns blazing to attack the administration every chance you get. You just did here to Jill and David what you criticize Nick for doing to Sue, and you know what that is called. And I won’t even go into your championing of Contestant #3’s cause – it’s pathetic. You’re wearing your vindictiveness on your sleeve.
Peace.
Sorry Moriah, doesn’t wash. Go back and read my posts in this thread. Then follow this link http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000345.html and you’ll see where I wrote:
You state:
Really? Where do I defame Jill and David? Where do I cast aspersions on their professional knowledge and ethics? Where do I take cheap potshots for the sake of a cheaper joke?
Read earlier up in this thread and you will note that I did not criticize the fact that a disclaimer was made, simply that it was done by three moderators one after the other, that one moderator did so in most immoderate and inappropriate terms, and that another moderator thereafter chose to repeat a cheap potshot that was taken by another moderator. Oh, and the term “ganging up” was introduced onto this thread by Ed, not by anyone else. Does that make him “irresponsible” in managing his own staff?
My speaking up against the slur against Dr. Sue had nothing to do with any past history with this board; it has to do with the fact that Dr. Sue is my friend, someone I admire and respect for what she has accomplished, and with a strong motivation to speak out against things which I perceive are unfair and/or unjust. That, incidentally, is why I spoke out when C#3 was banned – and I was hardly the only one to do so. And what, exactly, was the justification for creating a whole thread announcing to the world that an administrative action such as banning C#3 had been done? To gloat? Other names have been banned from the board before, without the need to start a new thread to make a public announcement about it.
Dr. Sue has requested, in her post prior to yours, that discussion end. Perhaps more wisely than I she is willing to concede that an apology from Nickrz – which even you admit should be forthcoming – is most unlikely. He turned his tail and left this thread a long time ago. Sue, I apologize for this subsequent post, for I did intend to honor your request, but I felt the need to respond to moriah’s comments.
-Melin
[[Dr. Sue has requested, in her post prior to yours, that discussion end. Perhaps more wisely than I she is willing to concede that an apology from Nickrz – which even you admit should be forthcoming – is most unlikely. He turned his tail and left this thread a long time ago. Sue, I apologize for this subsequent post, for I did intend to honor your request, but I felt the need to respond to moriah’s comments.]]
Not to mention get the last word again, Melin, eh?
Why look, it’s my pet troll! She’s followed me over here, now. How you doin’, J- er, I mean, “Elle” ( ::wink, wink:: )? Check your email, BTW.
Moriah, I gave your comments some more thought on my way to work this morning. I can see how, out of context, one could assume that my calling for Nickrz to apologize on this thread was out of a spirit of vindictiveness. I’d like to give you a little context, if you’d indulge me.
I became a reg on the old AOL Straight Dope Board sometime in the Spring of 1998. DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NEVER HAD AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP WITH TSD, OR WITH ANY OF ITS MODERATORS OR MANAGEMENT, OR WITH THE CHICAGO READER. As I got to know people there, and to IM with many of the staff, one of the things I would often do would be to give a little informal legal opinion if I saw a questionable post. Thus, if something was potentially actionable (in my conservative legal opinion), either for reasons of defamation, trade libel, trademark infringement, or copyright infringement, I would send an email or IM with Jenny (TubaDiva) or Lynn or Euty. And without sending them a bill for $300 per hour, either. 
When we came over to the new board, this board, I did the same thing. I did it before I was moderator, and I did it, of course, while I was a moderator. Since I stopped being a moderator I do not regularly IM or EM with any of TSD staff anymore, but I am still on reasonable speaking terms with some, and even in the two months or so while I was lurking occasionally and not posting, if I saw something problematic I sent an email, to Dex or to Lynn. I’m going to be immodest here for a moment and say that every time I have suggested to a board moderator or administrator that there is a potential legal problem surrounding a particular post, that person has followed my advice and edited or deleted the offending post.
Until now.
Seeing Nickrz’ post put me in a quandary. He and I do not speak. He is the moderator in this forum, and he is the person who made the offending post. I might have simply let it go by, then, but for the fact that it was such a low blow, and it was made against a person I call friend. Accordingly, I sent an email to a board adminstrator, suggesting that he might want to take a look at the post. Exactly as I have done on perhaps a dozen occasions over the last year and a half, includng after no longer being a moderator, except that this time the offending post was made by a staff member.
And that staff member has been totally quiet ever since, and the offending post has not been edited or deleted. It kind of looks like it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Y’know?
Now this did indeed present a quandary, because of course I had a concern that if I pushed for an apology as public as the slur, it would be mistaken, as you have mistaken it, for vindictiveness. Had it been directed at someone other than Dr. Sue, at someone I do not consider to be a friend, my one post ending in “I think TSD owes an apology” would have been the last. But I stick up for my friends, and for what I think is the right thing to do, especially when I think I have the moral high ground, and I think I’ve got it here.
J-, I mean, “Elle,” said something to me in an email written before she created this new screen name to follow me around with, to the effect that “You like to win, and you don’t give up.” Well, yes. And? Thanks for the compliment, it makes me worth the big bucks they pay me for what I do. But I do it honestly, without throwing baseless slurs around, sticking to the facts, and generally without resort to profanity or vulgarity. And without creating new screen names to hide behind, either.
When I’m convinced I’m wrong, I’ll apologize, too. I insulted PLDennison on the old board a year or so ago, and when called on it by Tom of Tomndebb I admitted that I was wrong in what I had said, and I published an apology as public as the insult on the old board. It’s part of being a grownup, part of maturely accepting responsibility for the things you say and do. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not perfect and I make mistakes, but at least I’m willing to acknowledge it, and to try to correct those mistakes when they are pointed out to me.
That’s all I wanted Nickrz to do.
-Melin
…and, after repeating yourself 11 times, Melin, we all get the idea. You aren’t asking Nickrz to apologize for pointing out that people should be cautious for seeking medical advice from a well-meaning doctor they’ve never met and who does not know their full medical history. You’re DEMANDING it.
It’s pretty obvious to anyone who’s been forced to endure seeing this message pop up to the top of the GQ board yet again (which is why I kept my mouth shut for so long) that you have a major problem with Nickrz moderating this board. Well, that’s YOUR problem…no reason to make it the rest of ours.
Personally, in light of the way this thing’s going, I think it ought to be moved to the BBQ pit…because that’s what this message has turned into…one long, unending flame.
Sheesh.
A ship in the harbor is safe, but that isn’t what a ship is built for.
Melin, I’m closing this thread. I count 11 posts from you in this thread alone demanding that Nickrz apologize. In my book that constitutes harassment. Any further posts in this vein will be deleted.