FIA Officials Allegedly Trying To Get Ex Doc Fired

"f86sabre" (f86sabre) 12/20/2014 at 22:28 • Filed to: Formula 1

4

8

Dr Gary Hartstein, former F-1 Medical Delgate, protege of Dr Sid Watkins, and Jalopnik contributor has apparently been !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Mind, he hasn't worked for the FIA for some time. They are apparently trying to get him removed from his everyday job due to comments he has made regarding Michael Schumacher's situation.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Like many of you, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . He never said he had any inside info and was simply trying to give the world some understanding of what the big words coming out of the hospitals meant. He also spoke frankly about what went unsaid.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

If the alogations are true that the FIA is trying to pressure the University Hospital of Liege to let Dr Hartstein go due to his posting, that is truly unsavory and not all together unexpected. I, for one, appreciate what Dr Hartstein did for the community by trying to let us know what was going on. Sounds like he is still swinging. Good for him!

Image credit: autoblog.gr

GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo > f86sabre 12/20/2014 at 22:58

2

I'll be frank here...Fuck the FIA. They are a terrible organization and in my personal opinion are about 100x worse than FIFA. Shit the FIA makes the NFL look like a goddamn saint.

f86sabre > GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo 12/20/2014 at 23:01

0

like most organizations, I'm sure it isn't everyone. The folks running the WEC are supposed to be ok. But Todt is the top official and if he is part of this then that is just pathetic.

DipodomysDeserti > f86sabre 12/21/2014 at 00:04

1

I always thought it was strange that an MD would speculate on the condition of a patient that wasn't his. He's a doctor, not a TMZ reporter. Despite who Michael Schumacher is, his injury has nothing to do with Dr. Harstein, or the autotive "community". The video you posted, along with his letter, give me the sense that he's just a big an asshole as the FIA.

PushToStart > f86sabre 12/21/2014 at 00:40

1

I love F1 as a sport, but I'm getting tired of the FIA's shit, as a whole. Even though he's done wonders for the sport (getting it on TV, etc) Bernie Ecclestone is a goddamn crook, and his time in F1 needs to end. And even though I just gave him credit for the things he's done in the sport, I won't kid myself into thinking that he did it for the fans, because you know he got a good payout for that. Also, fuck the FIA for their bullshit Bianchi accident conclusion, saying that it's impractical to improve upon safety measures in the sport. It's "impractical" to lose human lives in a sport, regardless of how dangerous it is by nature. The least they could do is make efforts to prevent deaths (or serious injuries in Bianchi's case) by evolving and creating forms of safety equipment.

And finally, fuck them for this. There's no reason to try to get someone fired, its totally uncalled for, and unprofessional.

/end rant

DrScientist > DipodomysDeserti 12/21/2014 at 12:25

1

physicians "speculate" on the condition of patients not under their care every day. of course there is a spectrum for the key factors of "how well does the physician actually know the case in order to provide a meaningful response" and "what is the outlet, the public nature of that outlet, and is the outlet an appropriate channel for communication."

a physician will consult on a case that is not under his care, when the treating physician lacks expertise in a particular area. expert witnesses speculate on cases not under their care in courtrooms, likely every day, across the country. sanjay gupta and probably hundreds of licensed practitioners/medical correspondants speculate on whatever medical situation, with regard to an individual or a population, any time the 24 hour news cycle deems it newsworthy.

other than the first example, i'm not saying these are shining examples of the medical profession, but such commentary by physicians on patients not under their care happens quite frequently.

as to dr hartstein... his comments on michael schumacher are always prefaced by statements indicating his lack of knowledge of specifics of the case. he uses publicly available reports from the case, and combines these with published reports of cases, clinical trials, and outcomes studies to develop his own medical opinion. and that's exactly what they are, opinions. every time a physician makes a judgement regarding a patient, it is only an opinion, of course we hope our own doctors are developing opinions based on expert knowledge and a wealth of experience, but this is not always the case, and frequently a "second opinion" may be desired.

dr hartstein is obviously a highly educated, inherently intelligent, well-spoken, and assertive professional. (sometimes this combination of characteristics can qualify such a person in some eyes as an "asshole.") when this type of individual is required to operate in within a complex organization (typically with high financial risks and benefits at stake) that person is subject to the final decisions of those controlling the organization, who would likely prefer to surround themselves with sychophants rather than forward thinking individuals of true intellectual ability. this is true for any professional in any type of organization and is clearly not limited to medicine or motorsport.

DipodomysDeserti > DrScientist 12/21/2014 at 17:05

0

Medical professionals and TV personalities are two entirely different things, even if they both have an MD after their names. And just because lots of other doctors do the same, doesn't make the act ok. If that were the case, drug abuse would be a perfectly acceptable practice as well.

DrScientist > DipodomysDeserti 12/21/2014 at 17:27

0

just to be clear... your concern is with the dissemination of the opinion in a public media outlet, not the "speculation" itself?

DipodomysDeserti > DrScientist 12/21/2014 at 17:34

0

The public speculation based on info received through the media.