CNN Medical Correspondent Operates on Iraqi Child

[Yogi Bear]

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wow..what a great guy! i think i've seen him a few times on cnn. too bad the surgery didn't work. 🙁

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23329-2003Apr3.html


CNN Medical Correspondent Operates on Iraqi Child


Reuters
Thursday, April 3, 2003; 8:33 PM



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sanjay Gupta, CNN's medical correspondent and a neurosurgeon, performed emergency brain surgery on Thursday in a vain effort to save the life of a 2-year-old Iraqi boy wounded at a U.S. Marine checkpoint south of Baghdad.

CNN issued a statement saying the network applauded Gupta's decision, on humanitarian grounds, to cross the line between journalists and the U.S. armed forces unit he was "embedded" with, to participate in the operation.

"Sanjay was sent to that particular unit as a medical correspondent, but we clearly support his efforts under these extraordinary circumstances to save the life of a dying boy," CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson said. "We are all proud of him."

The boy, who had been struck in the head by a bullet or shrapnel in a shooting incident at the checkpoint, died despite Gupta's efforts. Gupta said the brain surgery went "very well" but the boy's other injuries proved too extensive.

Assigned by CNN to cover the mobile staff of naval surgeons known as the "devil docs," Gupta said he was called on to operate on the boy because he was the only neurosurgeon present.

"Medically and morally, I thought it was the right thing to do," Gupta said later in a report from the scene. "I did not hesitate at all ... I thought we could give this kid a fighting chance to live, and we came very close to doing exactly that."

Gupta said the boy was one of three people who died in the shooting, which, according to the military, occurred when a taxicab passed through a U.S. Marine checkpoint south of Baghdad without stopping, prompting Marines to open fire.

The driver and another man in the front passenger seat were killed. The boy's mother, who was in the backseat with the child, survived the shooting in critical condition, Gupta said.

During one of his reports on the incident Thursday, unit commander Dr. Rob Hinks thanked Gupta for his help, welcoming him as "an honorary member of the devil docs."

 

[Yogi Bear]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030404/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_tv_doctor_8

Medical Reporter Performs Surgery in Iraq
1 hour, 1 minute ago

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

NEW YORK - While reporting on a U.S. Navy (news - web sites) medical team in Iraq (news - web sites) on Thursday, CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta unexpectedly became part of the story when asked to perform emergency brain surgery. The 2-year-old Iraqi boy did not survive.


AP Photo

As the only neurosurgeon available to treat a patient with a severe brain injury, Gupta said it was his moral duty to help. But it raised questions about the blurring of roles between doctor and journalist.


Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon at Emory University in Atlanta, has been traveling with the Navy's "devil docs" unit. Dr. Bob Arnot, a nonpracticing internist, has spent time with the Marines for NBC News and reported on a harrowing firefight early Thursday.


The boy treated by Gupta was in a taxi that drove through a U.S. Marine checkpoint south of Baghdad. When the taxi didn't stop, Marines opened fire, according to CNN. Two others in the taxi died.


Suffering from multiple wounds, the child was seen as having only minutes to live before Gupta was called upon. He operated to relieve pressure on the child's brain.


"Medically and morally, I thought it was absolutely the right thing to do," Gupta said. "It was a heroic ? it was not an elective operation, it was a heroic attempt to try to save the child's life."


CNN said Gupta made the right decision and the network is "extremely proud" of him.


"There's a certain discomfort when journalists step from their journalistic role to become part of a story," said Bob Steele, director of the ethics program for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. "That said, there are those rare instances when help is needed and only a journalist can provide it."


He compared it to a photographer happening upon a burning building. Trying to save someone trapped inside takes precedence over pictures, he said.


Arnot has not been called upon to treat a patient, although he may have helped hold an IV bag when an extra hand was needed, NBC said.


Assigning a doctor to report from these medical units brings the same sort of expertise as assigning a lawyer to report from the Justice Department (news - web sites), said Marvin Kalb, of the Joan Shorenstein Center on Press and Politics at Harvard University.


"If an emergency situation did turn up and help was needed, (Arnot) would certainly help out," said Bill Wheatley, vice president of NBC News. "But his first priority is he's there to be a journalist."


Steele said Gupta faced "difficult territory" in stepping back from the story and reporting on himself.


Gupta filed at least two live reports by satellite phone on the surgery on CNN Thursday. The network showed pictures of him scrubbing his hands before surgery and working at the operating table.


In his first report, Gupta began an interview with the unit's commander, Rob Hinks, before mentioning his own role.


"We were very lucky to have Dr. Sanjay Gupta, neurosurgeon extraordinaire, present to help us operate, as he graciously did, as a humanitarian gesture," Hinks said to Gupta. "Unfortunately, the child died, but without his help, there would have been no chance."


Gupta said he appreciated that.

"And we welcome you as an honorary member of the `devil docs,'" Hinks said.

 

[Moneyless]

btw... what's a devil doc?

 

[Jet915]

Devil Doc is the nickman of the navy docs who travel with the marines into iraq (I dont know what unit). Marines dont have their own medical doctors so the navy supplies the medical personnel for the marines. I saw some where that the certain marine division? or brigade? that the docs are in made a name for themselves in WWII due to their tenacity and fiece fighting. These marines in WWII were nicknamed "Devil Dogs." Now, the doctors who are part of this same unit that was made famous in WWII (I think WWII) are nicknamed the "Devil Docs."

Jetson

 

[Jet915]

Ok, I got the real story......

In WW I, at the battle of Belleau Wood, not only did the USMC distinguish itself in combat, but they won the grudging admiration of their German enemy, who reportedly stated they fought like 'Teufelhunden', or Devil Dogs. The Marines liked the sobriquet and adopted it as a nickname, often greeting each other as such. The Devil Docs is a natural extension, applied to the US Navy medical personnel who proudly serve in the Green Machine.

Jetson

 

[maddy2003]

Dr. Gupta Rocks!!!

This is why we go through the studying crap, build up our debt, and remove ourselves from the world for a few years...

no matter who it is, where it is, or what it takes

 

[BEETLEVH]

Good God, Gupta! Thats the kind of chance heroic "you're the ONLY one who can help" stuff that always makes you want to be a doc. He is one smart guy, and that is one awesome story... its just way too bad the kid died.

 

[alphabeta53]

I need to know what med school he went to before I can form an opinion on the matter....

 

[ashkan33]

leave it to the american media to turn something as catastrpohic as an innocent two year old boy being killed by our bullets into a epic of a doctor. i praise gupta nonetheless.

 

[alphabeta53]

Originally posted by ashkan33
leave it to the american media to turn something as catastrpohic as an innocent two year old boy being killed by our bullets into a epic of a doctor. i praise gupta nonetheless.

I don't know what killed my Friday happy hour buzz faster... this comment or seeing a yellow streak on my hanes last night before I hooked up with a girl....

 

[Mutterkuchen]

Originally posted by alphabeta53
I need to know what med school he went to before I can form an opinion on the matter....

He went to the University of Michigan medical school

 

[SunnyS81]

If I remember correctly:

1) He was in people magazine's list of 100 most eligible bachelors
2) He is now an adjunct faculty at Emory Med
3) He did something like start an institute or did his residency in Nashville....possibly with Vanderbilt......I read the article a year ago

 

[Yogi Bear]

Originally posted by SunnyS81
If I remember correctly:

1) He was in people magazine's list of 100 most eligible bachelors
2) He is now an adjunct faculty at Emory Med
3) He did something like start an institute or did his residency in Nashville....possibly with Vanderbilt......I read the article a year ago

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/gupta.sanjay.html


Sanjay Gupta
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a medical correspondent for the health news unit at CNN. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon, plays an integral role in the medical unit news coverage, which includes daily packages, the half-hour weekend show Your Health and coverage of breaking medical news. Based in Atlanta, he also contributes health news stories to CNN.com.


In 2003, Gupta spent time in Kuwait, reporting on various medical aspects of the escalating tension with Iraq.


In addition to his work for CNN, Gupta is a member of the staff and faculty of the department of neurosurgery at Emory University's school of medicine in Atlanta.


Before joining CNN, Gupta was a neurosurgeon at the University of Tennessee's Semmes-Murphy clinic, and before that, the University of Michigan Medical Center. He became partner of the Great Lakes Brain and Spine Institute in 2000 and in 1997, he was chosen as a White House Fellow in the office of the first lady -- one of only 15 fellows appointed.


Gupta has been published in a variety of scientific journals and has received numerous accolades. He is a member of several organizations, including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Do Something Foundation, Healing the Children Foundation and the Brain Foundation.


Gupta received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a doctorate of medicine from the University of Michigan Medical Center.

 

[Quickread]

Dr. Gupta worked at the hospital where I'm a ward clerk now, in Jackson Michigan, before he decided to take the job with CNN and moved out to the east. I didn't know him personally, but apparently he was a great guy and everyone was sorry to see him go. I'm glad to see he overcame that cliche journalistic standoffishness and did his moral duty.