The story of the surgery that made Ben Carson famous — and its complicated aftermath

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Fri Nov 13, 2015, 04:43 PM - Edit history (1)

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The story of the surgery that made Ben Carson famous — and its complicated aftermath

By Ben Terris and Stephanie Kirchner November 13 at 1:57 PM 

For months, a team of physicians and nurses had rehearsed for the delicate surgery. For hours they had prepped the two tiny bodies perilously joined at the head. And when it came time on that day in 1987 to put a knife to the large vein connecting them — the most fraught step in the groundbreaking operation to separate infant conjoined twins — Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson, the brilliant young pediatric neurologist who had overseen the babies’ case from the start, offered his scalpel to his boss.
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More than any other moment in a dazzling career, it was the separation of the Binder twins that launched the stardom of Ben Carson. The then-35-year-old doctor walked out of the operating room that day and stepped into a spotlight that has never yet dimmed, from the post-surgery news conference covered worldwide, through his subsequent achievements in his medical career, to publishing deals and a lucrative career as a motivational speaker — all paving the way to his current moment as a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

But while Carson frequently deploys anecdotes from his compelling life story — a hardscrabble childhood in Detroit, his climb to the Ivy League, his journeys through spiritual faith and advanced medicine — he only occasionally cites and never dwells on the story of Benjamin and Patrick Binder.

Like many stories from the frontiers of medical science, it’s a hard one to fit into an inspirational narrative — a tale of risk and loss and brutally tough options. And while Carson and his team achieved something unprecedented, with long-term benefits for science, it did not result in a happy ending for the Binders.

ETA: I have never doubted Ben Carson's surgical skills. The article points out that he's got that going for him. The article goes on to note that, for reasons that had nothing to do with Ben Carson, the lives of the patients were not a storybook experience.

It's not an attack on Carson. It's only an article about a complicated operation and its aftermath.

[sharp_stick]

1. Like a lot of fascinating medical stories

so many people think it was a huge success. Everyone I've ever talked to about the Binder twins assume that both of them went on to live perfectly normal lives.

Once the press dies down people think that everything is good and the press dies down pretty quickly with medical stories.

[madaboutharry]

2. I don't see what point this article is trying to make.

Every new horizon in medicine is a minefield. This is the nature of the learning curve in medical science. I feel empathy for the mother, who regretted the surgery. However, what chance would these boys had if she had not had them seperated?

It is a sad story, but how does this reflect poorly on Carson? The surgical team may have been overly optimistic, and maybe one could argue that they were too eager to do the surgery. But as said above, the alternative of leaving them doesn't seem like much of a choice at all.

[HuckleB]

3. Indeed. There is plenty to criticize about Carson, without going to places like this.