INDICTMENT ALERT! Over 6,000 Supporters Insisting that Facts and Science Must Prevail

For over six thousand supporters of this petition, yesterday's Department of Justice announcement probably came as little surprise.  Two individuals, including a physician, have been indicted for an alleged scheme that, sadly, will sound familiar to nearly any physician who has been practicing in this specialty over the past several years.  

As stated by the Department of Justice:  "As part of the scheme, women around the country were allegedly enticed into agreeing to undergo removal surgeries after scheme participants allegedly fraudulently told the women, among other things, about the risks of the TVM implants and the need to travel long distances and incur significant debt in order to undergo the surgeries.  In addition, Walker and others allegedly paid kickbacks and bribes to Barber in exchange for the referral of these women for surgeries."

This ongoing chapter in our specialty has led to unsavory alliances and has torn our professional fabric and has damaged our mutual respect and trust.  But in the end, the truth has a curious way of bubbling to the surface, and science must allowed to prevail.  Physicians and patients should be allowed to navigate best clinical care based on scientific evidence, not based on medicolegal alliances that are focused on profit and misinformation.   We are relying on FDA leadership to redouble their efforts to ensure that the final outcome of this important women's health issue is shielded from outside influence, and is steered only by fair and objective science.