December 3, 2004

Surgeon Attaches Jewelry to Woman's Pancreas

Foresees New Era of Body Piercings for Internal Organs

Medical doctors are increasingly eyeing body piercing as a possible new specialty that would be free of insurance company hassles and the other bureaucratic woes. So it was no surprise Wednesday when a New York City surgeon described how he used laparoscopic surgical equipment to attach a jewel encrusted ring to the pancreas of a 26-year-old woman.

Dr. Robert Rhinstone III told a meeting of the American Society of Physicians for Body Piercing that he believed his surgery was the first time that jewelry had been attached to a human internal organ purely for decorative purposes.

"Attaching jewelry and other personal items to internal organs is the next frontier in medicine's ancient quest to satisfy both the patient's medical needs and his or her search for personal happiness and security," he the told the annual meeting of the ASPBP in Boca Raton, Florida. "This may also be the next, and perhaps the last area of medicine that is likely to remain free of insurance company and government supervision and intervention."

Rhinestone, a general surgeon who ordinarily performs hernia repairs, appendectomies, and gall bladder removals, said he was at first reluctant when the woman, who he did not identify other than to refer to her as "Pancreatic Jewel," approached him about attaching the ring to her pancreas. But he said he agreed to the procedure after consulting a medical ethicist and after the woman said she was fully able to pay both the cost of the hospitalization and the surgeons fee.

Rhinestone declined to discuss he fee, other than to say, "It certainly beat the typical Medicare payment."

He said the woman has an x-ray that shows the pancreatic adornment and that she uses it to show off her internal body art.

He told the ASP meeting that the physician who can develop a practice catering to wealthy patients who want internal organ piercings might be able to "turn back the managed care clock and experience practicing medicine the way it was meant to be practiced."

In an interview after his presentation, Rhinestone said that he doubted that insurance companies, the federal government, or other third parties that pay the costs of medical care would ever pay for attaching jewelry to internal organs.

Rhinestone said that in the next few weeks he has several organ piercings scheduled, including attaching a diamond stud to a stomach, a ring to a spleen, a miniature rendering in stainless steel of a beer bottle cap to a liver, and a small engagement ring to an ovary.

"I'm a general surgeon, so I wouldn't be qualified to perform the procedure, but the day is not far off when the first jewelry will be attached to a heart," he predicted.

He said that perhaps the piercing would accompany open heart surgery for a bypass or other medically necessary procedure.

"It's not unreasonable to think that for a certain group of older wealthy people that the ultimate status symbol will be a diamond stud in the wall of the heart," Rhinestone said.

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