A friend sent me a very long article from today's New York Times.  I'm
posting the opening paragraphs, because I think everyone in this newsgroup
will appreciate them!
Eva
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In the Hospital, a Degrading Shift From Person to Patient
By BENEDICT CAREY

Mary Duffy was lying in bed half-asleep on the morning after her breast
cancer surgery in February when a group of white-coated strangers filed into
her hospital room.

Without a word, one of them--a man--leaned over Ms. Duffy, pulled back her
blanket, and stripped her nightgown from her shoulders.

Weak from the surgery, Ms. Duffy, 55, still managed to exclaim, "Well, good
morning," a quiver of sarcasm in her voice.

But the doctor ignored her. He talked about carcinomas and circled her bed
like a presenter at a lawnmower trade show, while his audience, a half-dozen
medical students in their 20's, stared at Ms. Duffy's naked body with
detached curiosity, she said.

After what seemed an eternity, the doctor abruptly turned to face her.

"Have you passed gas yet?" he asked.

"Those are his first words to me, in front of everyone," said Ms. Duffy, who
runs a food service business near San Jose, Calif.

"I tell him, 'No, I don't do that until the third date,'" she said. "And he
looks at me like he's offended, like I'm not holding up my end of the
bargain."
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