Dr. Kathryn Lael Botney, MD

As ever, considerate, listened to my concerns and gave me referral. Thorough exam. Called me at home after hours to be certain I understood directions.

May I have a few minutes of your time? Vitals.com is the only forum I have for telling as many women as possible that the Board Certified OB/GYNs of Mercy actually allow residents, doctors in training, to perform complete surgical procedures, that is start to finish, on their purposely neglected to be told, totally unsuspecting, anesthetized patients. For your procedure it may only be part, but whichever is the case, if your Mercy doctor has not told you specifically what part of a procedure the resident performing, then your doctor has perpetrated something called "ghost surgery". "Ghost surgery" is the act of substituting one surgeon for another surgeon, supervised residents included, for all or part of a surgical procedure without the express consent of a patient who has essentially hired a specific doctor to treat them. "Ghost surgery" is considered fraud and battery of a patient (U.S. Supreme Court, 1983). Something else to seriously consider is that risks/rates of… complications definitely go up when a resident does any surgery. Perfectly logical really when you consider so many aspects of a gyno procedure can be completely blind: critical bladder dissection, vault suspension, a d&c, etc. Having a resident do any of your surgery will add a minimum 6% increase to the rate of complications. My little bit of research also led me to the ugly discovery that residents will be allowed to do invasive bi-manual pelvic exams on you while you're in a lithotomy position and anesthetized. The Mercy doctors' thinking is you will be perfectly relaxed and excellent practice for the residents. (Kind of like a piece of meat on hooks for USDA inspection). These pelvic exams without your express consent are against the law in 4 states. HI, for example, found countless instances of bruised cervices, torn and abraded tissue, and countless infections. While these pelvic without consent aren't against the law in MO, I can't help but wonder: shouldn't the well being of a patient come first?, and whatever happened to treating a woman with dignity and respect? My guess is they don't ask permission, because they know how unethical this is. Then there is #4 on your consent form. It is deliberately and purposely broad and vague. Your "credentialed provider" (aka your Mercy, Board Certified OB/GYN) thinks simply telling you a resident might be involved in your care or maybe a resident will walk in minutes before your surgery and say, "Hi, I'm the resident": your Mercy doctor thinks this covers their responsibility to you. It doesn't. Hopefully I have added some info and good luck with your decision.

I have been with Dr. Botney for over 10 years. She is a great doctor who cares about her patients. I would recommend her to anyone. She spends the time to get to know you and your specific needs.

Dr. Botney has been my mother's OBGyn for several years and has been one of the best physicians I have ever known. Many times, as my mother has grown older, I have accompanied her to her appointments with Dr. Botney and sat in on her exam. Not only has the doctor always been extremely observant, accurate and right on the mark with diagnosing any issues and treating them properly with minimally invasive means...but even more critical to my mom and to me has been her consistent willingness to truly take time for mom, listen carefully, respond with caring and to be absolutely trustworthy in all phases of caring for my mom. I am at a point of needing a new OBGyn and am hoping that there is a chance that she can take me on as a new patient soon.

After one OBGYN had told me I would need a hysterectomy 15 years ago, I went to Dr. Botney for a seccond opinion. I have still not had a hysterectomy & have no plans to have one. She has bee able to control my symptoms with meds and I am very pleased with her.