The Butcher: Addendum

Before I published “The Butcher” on this blog in September, in which I related what I thought was a dimly remembered episode of Oprah, I did some digging. I searched for the specific Oprah episode, which I believed was aired about fifteen years ago. I searched for the specific person who related her story on the episode. All I remembered about her was what happened to her. In my September post I described what happened to the best of my recollection.

The episode that I watched featured a woman who had been involved in a contested divorce that she had won. Her ex-husband was a gynecologist (I’m not sure if that was how they met). He was also her gynecologist, and despite having beaten him in their divorce case, she continued to seek his gynecological services.

On her last visit to his office, he performed a minor procedure on her that required a local anesthesia. When he was finished, he gave her a prescription for painkillers, warning her that she might experience a little discomfort once the anesthesia wore off.

Later, when the woman started to experience bleeding and severe pain, she went to an ER where a doctor examined her and was astonished to discover that her ex had caused such extensive damage – with a scalpel – to her uterus that much of it was irreparable. By the time she appeared on the Oprah show, she was suffering continuous pain that required her taking prescription painkillers, and that it would likely be with her for many more years. And she could never again bear a child.

So much for memory. Over the years the story that I remembered had became somewhat garbled. A few days ago I happened on the actual story. The first thing that struck me was that it hadn’t happened about fifteen years ago, but more than twice as many years. Here is how the AP reported the story:

Debbie Crandall-Millar's husband, a gynecologist, sewed her vagina shut.

Ex-Husband, Associate Ordered to Pay $6 Million for Abusive Sex Surgery

OCT. 24, 1987 | 12 AM

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN LUIS OBISPO — A gynecologist accused of deliberately sewing shut his wife’s vagina to punish her for having an affair and his associate have been ordered to pay the woman $6 million.

The former Debbie Crandall-Millar, 35, on Thursday was awarded $1 million for pain and suffering and $5 million in punitive damages by an 11-woman, one-man jury after four days of deliberations. She has since remarried and lives in Fresno.

Dr. Glenn C. Millar, 65, of San Luis Obispo declined comment on the verdict. Millar and Dr. Robert W. Tetatreau, who assisted in the 1984 operation, both testified during the civil trial that any mistakes they made were not intentional.

Crandall-Millar testified that her then-husband told her after the surgery, “I’ve fixed it so you’ll never screw around on me again.” Her attorney, David Sabih of Monterey, said his client has undergone reconstructive surgery. “She can have sex, but it hurts her a lot,” he said.

Having Marital Problems

Crandall-Millar told the jury that she and her former husband were having marital problems when she entered the Sierra Vista Medical Center for a hysterectomy and that he suspected her of seeing another man. In fact, Sabih said, Crandall-Millar was having an affair at the time and that may have limited the jury award.

The jury found Millar 60% responsible and Tetatreau 40% responsible for the incident. The medical center was also ruled negligent but not responsible for the injury. Millar was ordered to pay the punitive damages and 60% of the injury award.

Millar is still practicing medicine, but a state review board suspended Tetatreau’s medical license pending a review and he is now practicing in Colorado, Sabih said. He said no criminal charges were pressed.

I am not aware that the former Mrs. Millar actually appeared on the Oprah Show. It may have been some other talk show, like Sally Jesse Raphael. It might even have been Donahue. However I first heard about the story, it stuck in my memory.

As for my comparing the story to what Donald Trump is doing to the country, now that the election is over and he lost, it’s even more effective as a metaphor. The brazen vindictiveness and unexampled cruelty of Trump’s acts of sabotage, intended to leave the country in as precarious a place as possible upon Joe Biden’s swearing-in on January 20, with probably more than 300,000 dead of Covid-19 (most of whom he is personally responsible for), is the closest thing to that doctor telling his estranged wife, “I’ve fixed it so you’ll never screw around on me again.” Millar lost the court case but continued to practice medicine. Trump will doubtless continue to make and squander his fortunes, but never again in a position of trust at the expense of a country he never deserved.