Saturday, July 17, 1999
Hospitals, surgeon offer to help boy
Doctor says he will remove large breast
BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Two Cincinnati hospitals and a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia have offered to help a 17-year-old Tristate youth whose HMO refuses to pay for an operation to correct his abnormally large breast.
Children's Hospital Medical Center and Shriners Hospitals for Children contacted the family after the Enquirer published a story Thursday about the boy.
Shriners Hospitals wants to “to get the wheels in motion,” Louise Hoelker, hospital spokeswoman, said Friday.
The teen, whom the Enquirer is not naming at his family's request, could be evaluated by doctors within a few weeks and scheduled for surgery, Ms. Hoelker said.
“Shriners' will pay for everything.”
The teen has gynecomastia, an abnormal enlargement of the mammary gland that affects as many as 10 percent of all men. Enlarged breasts in boys just entering puberty often shrink by themselves. One of the teen's breasts did shrink, but the other is large enough to fit in a size 34B bra.
The boy's pediatrician, Dr. Paul Chirlin, who has offices in Springdale and Mason, and Dr. Victor Garcia, a surgeon at Children's Hospital, recom mended the boy have surgery to remove the breast. Surgery would cost $1,800 to $5,000.
But the family's HMO — Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield's Community Choice plan — won't pay for it, because it considers the operation “cosmetic.”
Dr. Ted Eisenberg, 47, a plastic and reconstructive sur geon in Philadelphia, offered Friday to perform the operation at no charge through his practice, East Coast Center for Cosmetic Breast Surgery. He said he also would help to defray the costs of bringing the family to Philadelphia.
“We'll extend our courtesy, our offer, to see if (the family) has any interest,” Dr. Eisen berg said. During his 15 years as a physician, he said he has performed several surgeries on young men diagnosed with gynecomastia.
“I think I was put on the planet to do breast surgery because that's how my practice evolved. The world has been good to me, so I would like to give something back,” he said. “I guess we're just as outraged as the mom.
“From my experience in my own practice, I would say it's a horrific embarrassment that almost paralyzes an individual in his social situation,” he said.
Children's Hospital is exploring how to help the family,
hospital spokesman Jim Feuer said.
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