Through this experience, I finally understood the supreme importance of the patient-physician relationship and the role of empathy in fostering that relationship. My interactions with this former alcoholic led to one of my most profound lessons in compassion and empathy to date.
Dr. Larry Nassar is accused of sexually abusing gymnasts like Jeanette Antolin, who says he built trust with girls by giving them candy. Dantzscher told LaPook that Nassar didnât use a glove. Nassar was a longtime doctor for women and girls at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. He has denied any abuse, and, in an email last fall to his Michigan State bosses, said, âI will overcome this.â
Noting that the gymnasts that he once treated in the 1990s were now working as coaches in 2013, Nassar said his reputation as a gymnast-first doctor helped him expand his role within the community, adding that he was well aware that âif you screw up once with one of those gymnasts, it will spread like wildfire.â