Rudeness from Doctor OK?

Headline from Comcast News:

CONCORD, N.H. - A judge has ordered the state Board of Medicine to stop disciplinary proceedings against a doctor accused of telling a patient she was so obese she might only be attractive to black men and advising another to shoot herself following brain surgery.

Umm...excuse me? Could this be real? Apparently, yes. Here's a little more:

"If you look at the polling, nobody likes fat women," he said last year. "Is it right? No. Is it sensible? No. Is it true? Yeah ... Black guys are the only group that don't mind that. Is that racist to say that?"

A 2001 complaint accused Bennett of telling a woman recovering from brain surgery to buy a pistol and shoot herself to end her suffering. The doctor was also accused of speaking harshly to a woman about how her son might have contracted hepatitis, according to the ruling.

Can someone please explain to me how this is considered acceptable behavior from a physician?
How do you trust someone to care for you who speaks to you in this manner? How does a hospital allow someone who is so callous towards his patients practice there?

A little more:

"The question now is: Will the board waste more of your and my tax dollars and appeal this, or accept done as done?" he said in a telephone interview.

Fitzgerald also ruled that state and American Medical Association requirements to treat patients with "compassion and respect for human dignity and rights" are so vague they are unconstitutional. Bennett probably would have won his challenges before the board, the judge said.

Bennett said he planned to sue everyone involved for "malicious prosecution."

"I am not inclined to be forgiving about it," he said. "It's been devastating and infuriating."

No, what's devastating and infuriating is that this man is being allowed to get away with what could amount to misogyny and bigotry with absolutely no censure, and that patients have suffered at his hand, or, rather his mouth. Like it or not, patients hold their doctors in high esteem, and what they say can be either uplifting or devastating, when not ignored altogether, of course. Doctors hold a position of authority, and must accept certain responsibilities as a result. One of those responsibilities, I believe, is to not try to hurt their patients. "First, do no harm..."

Words can hurt. Words can ruin. Words can devastate. Words can have the opposite effect of what's intended. The Greek word "sarcasm" means "to tear the flesh", indicating how powerful words can be. This Dr. Bennett has clearly torn some flesh with his statements, and, in my opinion, that qualifies as doing harm.

Oh, and for the record? It's not just black men who like fat women, Doc. And there are a lot who do. Ask my hubby.