When my doctor publishes a book, I am one of the first to buy it! So, I did last month, when Kathleen Edmunds M.D. announced the publication of her book, The New Elder Abuse.
Dr. Edmunds wasn’t my first obstetrician-gynecologist, but she was the one who probably saved my life after my first one should have retired but hadn’t, a point that Dr. Edmunds continues to find frustrating with the medical field. “When physicians become impaired, they need to retire. I have heard more disasters in care since I retired, and most are from much older physicians who are impaired but won’t retire.”
Dr. Kathleen, as I will call her in this article since her husband is also Dr. Edmunds, was inspired to become a physician by her father, who managed wildlife refuges from New York to Florida, providing their family with wonderful childhood adventures.
Dr. Kathleen trained at the University of Rochester at four different hospitals and then taught for three years at the University of Virginia as an assistant professor. She said, “If I needed help, I could always just pick up the phone and call physicians I know at those two universities plus the University of Tennessee.”
As Dr. Kathleen experienced her industry implode with the pandemic, the heartbreak was “the internet making many people with little knowledge think they knew more than their doctors by going to Google for 10 minutes.”
While her struggles during the pandemic with her practice and her health are detailed in the book, the content of the book is summarized as: “how ruthless marketing companies, car companies, water companies and complicated credit card companies are taking advantage of those with dementia.”
Her favorite quote is “Family is not an important thing. It is Everything” by Michael J. Fox. A resounding theme of this alarming story of her dad, who was victimized by multiple companies and was hundreds of thousands in debt unbeknownst to him.
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger” by Friedrich Nietzsche is another favorite, exemplifying the journey Dr. Kathleen has endured since 2020 as she overcame her father’s financial struggles, survived having Covid-19 three times, and worked to develop three patents with one pending for three different gynecologic devices.
Dr. Kathleen and her husband, Dr. Meade Edmunds, have three children: Dr. Meade Edmunds, Dr. Carter Edmunds and daughter, Shannon Smith. They have two grandchildren “who are the light of my life.”
Even being retired from seeing patients doesn’t stop Dr. Kathleen from wanting to help women. She has three patents and one patent pending. “I want to do whatever it takes to bring the Copper Contraceptive Shield and the At Home Pap to market. I think both of these devices would be life changing for women all over the world.”
As for the book, if you have anyone in your circle who is elderly, this is a must read and can be found on amazon: The New Elder Abuse
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