Doctor accused of homophobia against a patient with monkeypox is suspended and is under investigation

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The Health Department of Santo André, Brazil, in the ABC region of São Paulo, has initiated an investigative procedure and suspended an on-call physician from municipal health facilities following an accusation of an episode of homophobia. He was accused by the patient of having been homophobic during the care that took place at an Emergency Care Unit.

The man who was treated posted a tweet on July 28th, recounting events that occurred on the 25th. He said he believed he had COVID, but then the characteristic monkeypox blisters started to appear. He went to the Santa Luzita public hospital to get tested for syphilis, and as soon as it came back negative, the doctor who attended to him referred him to UPA Central, where he claims to have been treated in a discriminatory manner by a doctor.

“I was attended by a doctor who treated me with complete disdain, as if I were a leper and negligent. I told him I had gone to the specialty center, and he questioned me about my serology. I said it was negative, and he replied, ‘Are you sure about that?,’ ‘Why were you there if not for some illness? Do you have an illness?'”,the professional said to the patient, who continues the account of the treatment he went through.

“I questioned, ‘Illness?’. ‘Yeah, illness?’. ‘Never mind, I’ll have the nurses deal with that.’ ‘Please leave the room’ “, the patient recounted the doctor’s words. He was then directed to an isolated room at the UPA and was attended to by a nursing team, who conducted a test to confirm if he had monkeypox.

“From my first visit to the UPA, all the female professionals followed an impeccable conduct of assistance and support, treating the virus as just another issue to be resolved with various resources and information they had about monkeypox. At no point did I feel coerced or treated as a carrier of the ‘new gay plague.’ Only the male doctor treated me with total disgust”,the patient declared, confirming that he had been infected with monkeypox

The Health Department of Santo André issued a statement expressing regret over the incident and stating that the on-call physician will remain suspended without receiving a salary until the investigation is concluded. The professional is employed by SPDM, a social health organization that holds a management contract for the Urgency and Emergency Network Units, Emergency Care Units, and UPAs.

“One month ago, professionals in both the public and private healthcare networks received training on protocols, procedures, and referrals related to monkeypox, provided by the Municipal Health Department”, said the statement from the organization.

The victim expressed regret over the recent statement by the OMS regarding monkeypox. “The debate is that we are going backwards again, it seems that once again God is going to punish the community. These professionals who are promoting attitudes like that of this doctor reinforce that the OMS statement is homophobic, that the previous generation fought so that I and other LGBTQIA+ individuals wouldn’t go through this today in terms of public health”, the victim concluded

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