For “Long and Short of It,” Salon.com's Aug. 2, 1999, story on botched penile enlargement surgeries and the, ahem, lengths patients must go to if they safely want to increase the size of their members, reporter Michael Easterbrook turned to an Anaheim Hills urologist for expertise.
Now, Dr. Gary Rheinschild, 75, faces
possible state discipline that could range from a public reprimand to loss of
his license over allegations he botched several penis enlargement surgeries.
A decision from the California Medical Board is expected by January, reports the Orange County Register. In the meantime, we can check out Rheinschild's website, which includes “case study” photographs. (If you are as squeamish as the person banging this out, do not click on “Continue reading . . .” or scroll any farther.)
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Examples of successful lengthening cases on Rheinschild's site are shown below, with “before” images on the left and “afters” on the right . . .
The site also features penile corrections such as these; again, befores are on the left, afters on the right . . .
According to the Register piece, Rheinschild is accused of gross negligence in
his treatment of
three men and of practicing despite signs of cognitive impairment. The
same story quotes the doctor's attorney saying a judge recently ruled
that Rheinschild is not impaired. She accused competitors of seeking to
destroy his reputation.
State board
documents provide
these horrific accounts:
-A patient going to see Rheinschild for
surgery to lengthen and widen his penis in 2003, but expressing
concern about the urologist's age because he seemed confused. Medical
staff reportedly assured the patient Rheinschild was a bit “eccentric” but the
best in the country. The man underwent surgery, came out with a
crooked and deformed penis and Rheinschild refused to
correct his work, the documents allege.
-A 21-year-old patient in 2005 reported that Rheinschild's
hands sometimes shook and he had trouble remembering information. About
five weeks after his $8,000 surgery to lengthen and thicken
his penis, the wound burst open and his dong began to
shorten and curve, according to the documents, which indicate Rheinschild refused to see him for a follow-up and the patient underwent two reconstructive surgeries.
-Another patient claimed Rheinschild would not see him for follow-ups until he threatened to tell the medical board about the pain, large scar and blackened foreskin he experienced after surgery.
Those depictions of Rheinschild sound like the doctors who work Rheinschild corrected, according to the Salon piece.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.