Today marks two years since I was banned for life by the American College of Surgeons Board of Regents
The House of Surgery no longer prioritizes excellence in surgery nor does it represent surgeons and their patients
My 2-Year Anniversary of Being Banned by the American College of Surgeons
The House of Surgery no longer prioritizes excellence in surgery nor does it represent surgeons and their patients
Two years ago today, I was informed by the General Secretary of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), Dr. Tyler Hughes, that I had been permanently banned. The ban included being blocked from access to the online discussion forums for Fellows of the ACS, from access to the directory of Fellows of the ACS, and, inexplicably, from access to my own private mailbox on the ACS website.
Why this harsh punishment? What terrible infraction(s) did I commit? According to Hughes, my ban was for “continuous disrespectful language and placement of non-clinical posts in the General Surgery community.” The real reason was that I had become too troublesome and disruptive by persistently questioning decisions by the ACS leadership.
These decisions followed in the wake of the death of George Floyd, when our country went certifiably crazy with riots, calls for defunding the police, and claims that the US was systemically racist at its core. The ACS Board of Regents joined in the mad rush to virtue signal it acceptance of the last one by assembling a Task Force on Racism within weeks of Floyd’s death. The ACS Board of Regents declared that the College was racist, that its surgeons were racists, and that surgery itself was discriminatory against minorities. The only evidence presented to support any of these odious claims was the existence of disparities in minority representation in surgery and in the outcomes of surgery in minority patients. To those who view the world through a racial lens, all disparities are the result of conscious or unconscious racism
The ACS leadership has gone so far as to advance the repellant claim that minority patients might have better outcomes, if their surgery is performed by surgeons of their own race. Again, no credible evidence for this has been presented, but the allegation is embedded in the recently launched DEI Toolkit for surgeons developed by the ACS. In the stroke of a pen, the ACS has erased more than a century of improving race relations and taken us back to the days of segregation.
The recommendations of the Task Force on Racism, which were published in the ACS Bulletin in November 2020, called for a radical transformation of the College. A Diversity Pillar was added to the existing five pillars (Advocacy and Health Policy, Communication, Education, Member Services, and Quality, Research, and Optimal Patient Care) of the ACS. Antiracism, the brain child of Ibram X. Kendi, which is nothing more than reverse racism, was to be added to the values of the ACS. A new Department of Diversity was added with it own Executive Director and a Clinical Director, who would be an addition to the Board of Regents. Staff, leaders, and member surgeons were to be trained in such concepts as white privilege, implicit bias (a thoroughly discredited concept), microaggressions, ally/active bystander action, and more.
The ACS has persistently denied it is embracing critical race theory- an ideology that posits that all of human history is based on power inequities between whites and non-whites, antiracism, and DEI. The latter has been called a dog whistle for the first two. That this was a blatant lie was evident for all the world to see when the ACS hosted a retreat on diversity for the leaders of all the professional surgical societies in June 2021. The keynote speaker was none other than Ibram Kendi.
I objected to all of this, demanded a discussion of this direction of the ACS among the membership and called the leadership to task for it racialization of the College, which I believed, and still believe, would be detrimental to the mission of the ACS as stated “To Serve All With Skill and Fidelity.” My posts on the ACS Communities discussion forums received more attention than any other in the history of the ACS and nearly two-thirds of those who engaged agreed with my concerns.
The ACS Board of Regents invited me to a Zoom call in March 2022, which I felt went well, by a few weeks later, the rules for the discussion forums were changed to prevent posts like mine on clinical forums and, on April 17, I was informed of my lifetime ban. My attempts to appeal this and demand to have a formal hearing, as is my right as a Fellow of the ACS, were denied. Douglas Wood, MD, the Head of the Central Judiciary Committee made the astounding statement in a letter to me that my ban was not really a punishment deserving of a hearing, because the Board of Regents bypassed the Central Judiciary Committee to ban me as they did. This was an egregious violation of the ACS’s own bylaws and rules for disciplining Fellows.
I have repeatedly asked to be shown examples of comments I made that violated the rules of the discussion forums and got me banned. This request has been refused.
Visible cracks that are now showing in the Edifice of DEI. Kendi is being investigated for misuse of millions of dollars donated to his Center for Antiracism Research, which has produced no original research since its inception. DEI administrators everywhere are being laid off as corporations and institutions have become increasingly aware of how divisive and non-productive they are. Parents are rising up against schools that have installed DEI into their curricula. A recent documentary, Killing America, chronicles the major role of DEI in fostering antisemitism. DEI is now in retreat almost everywhere, yet the ACS continues to push this and my ban stands.
Surgery faces many challenges. Studies project a shortage of up to 30,000 surgeons by 2034. It is estimated that there is a shortfall of 2500 trauma surgeons today. The quality of graduates from surgical residency programs has been in decline, with many leaving training unprepared to go into practice independently. Rather than focus on these and other legitimate problems confronting our profession, the ACS Board of Regents persists in chasing the concocted fabrications of lack of diversity and racism.
More than anything else, my ban shows the ACS Board of Regents for who they are, ideologues who have sold out the ACS and its focus on excellence in surgery for the cult of DEI. Whether this is due to clueless complicity or deliberate malfeasance is irrelevant; the result is the same and our patients will suffer for it. The current leaders of the ACS need to be removed and new leadership installed that will restore trust and a focus on excellence to the ACS.
Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS
Infuriating. And health care continues a precipitous decline while the emperors chant their dei rhetoric
Well said. I can’t even begin to imagine what a shock and insult it was to you to be banned. With our world becoming corrupt on so many levels and integrity a lost virtue, I don’t know why I’m surprised. In my eyes, your commitment to your profession is beyond reproach. I’m honored to be associated with you.