By Marilyn M. Singleton, M.D., J.D

Watching the news coverage of this year’s “Women’s March” was more disheartening than inspiring. Some participants wore odd sexually suggestive caps. Many carried signs dominated by anti-President Trump slogans—some displaying obscene language—in front of children, no less. To be fair, “women’s rights are human rights” was more popular than “keep your hands off my #@%^!.”

The normalization of the sport of destructive communication brings to mind the medical nocebo effect. Nocebo effects can modulate the outcome of a given therapy in a negative way, as do placebo effects in a positive way. In short, negative expectations beget negative results.

The political nocebo effect is a sister of the age-old propaganda tool of demonizing the opposition rather than promoting one’s own position. With the Khmer Rouge’s Pol Pot, it was people with eyeglasses (a sign of intellect). With wannabe socialists, it is “the rich.” Ironic, given that the most vociferous are themselves uber-rich or have donors from the elite “one percent.” Of late, the demon is a far less discrete group: all men, with a special place in political hell for white men.

Ah, the numinosity of womanhood! If women were in charge, all of our problems would be solved; there would be no more boorish behavior. Ogling the gender of one’s preference would be subject to civil fines and public obloquy. There would be no Chippendales, Thunder Down Under, or People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive.”

To be sure, having a woman at the top does not guarantee virtuous outcomes. There was England’s Queen “Bloody” Mary I, who killed thousands of Protestants and Spain’s Queen Isabella I who appointed Tomás de Torquemada as the first Inquisitor General of the Inquisition.

In modern times, India’s Indira Gandhi used an unstable political climate to quash constitutionally protected civil rights by declaring a state of emergency allowing her to arrest political opponents and censor the media. Former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was arrested last year for allegedly covering up Iranian involvement in a 1994 bombing that killed 85 people at a Jewish community center. Nobel Peace Prize winner State Chancellor Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar, has been criticized for her refusal to discuss the plight of the Rohingya Muslims and her failure to condemn indiscriminate force used by troops (over which she has no control). South Korean president Park Geun-hye was put on trial for pressuring companies to paying millions in bribes in return for business favors.

Clearly, that old adage, “power tends to corrupt” is not gender-specific.

Many women carried signs demanding healthcare for all women. Wasn’t women’s health one of the 26 essential women’s benefits in ObamaCare? Further examination of the “Women’s March” website reveals that the beef was “open access to safe, legal, affordable abortion and birth control for all people.”

The marchers missed a golden opportunity to bring awareness to the general public serious health issues that affect all women. An American Heart Association study found that after a heart attack, women age 55 or younger have worse outcomes than males. Women have poorer physical and mental functioning and more chest pain. These findings may be because these women tend to have delayed diagnosis, and thus receive later treatment for heart disease.

Instead of dwelling on vilifying others, use the platform to tell women to take care of themselves. At least 45 percent of cancer deaths and the top three causes of preventable deaths are due to things within our power to change: smoking, obesity, and drinking alcohol. Although smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the U.S., “light” smoking is increasing among women.

The marchers should not let the fear of “fat-shaming” accusations shut down the discussion about the rising obesity rate in women. Obese women are at higher risk for heart disease, depression, infertility, musculoskeletal pain, and endometrial, cervical, and breast cancer. Obesity pre- and during pregnancy contribute to pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, cesarean sections, and neonatal death.

As a physician, I treat each patient as unique. Similarly, the marchers should remind each other that their pioneering sisters were fiercely independent and looked forward, not back. Instead of wearing silly hats, study to be the next Marie Curie, Helen Taussig, or Virginia Apgar.

The marchers should encourage women to jump off the bandwagon of negativity, shed the mantle of group victimhood, and see themselves and others as individuals, not members of a tribe.

Dr. Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD is a board-certified anesthesiologist and member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS).

Dr. Marilyn Singleton ran for Congress in California’s 13th District in 2012, fighting to give its 700,000 citizens the right to control their own lives.

While still working in the operating room, Dr. Marilyn Singleton attended UC Berkeley Law School, focusing on constitutional law and administrative law. She also interned at the National Health Law Program and has practiced both insurance and health law.

Dr. Marilyn Singleton has taught specialized classes dealing with issues such as the recognition of elder abuse and constitutional law for non-lawyers. She also speaks out about her concerns with Obamacare, the apology law and death panels.

Congressional candidate Dr. Marilyn Singleton presented her views on challenging the political elite to physicians at the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons annual meeting in 2012.

Follow Dr. Marilyn Singleton on Twitter @MSingletonMDJD

More info about Dr. Marilyn Singleton

Change Is Not Always For The Better

by Marilyn M. Singleton, M.D., J.D.,

Recently, I took a respite from my concerns about the Affordable Care Act, which I left simmering in the crockpot while I was re-visiting the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Most people visit Cambodia for a brief trip to Siem Reap to experience the magnificent ancient temples at Angkor Wat, the symbol adorning its flag. Some visit the capital city, Phnom Penh, to experience mass graves and a torture camp, prison, and execution center. Cambodia has a haunting physical and emotional landscape and an intangible something about these inspirational people that lures many visitors back.

The prolific and feared Khmer Angkor Empire that extended over Southeast Asia was transformed by years of civil or border wars and French protectionism. But the mother of all change was imposed by a native Khmer, Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot, in the name of creating an equal society.

Pol Pot led the communist Khmer Rouge who overthrew the sitting Khmer Republic and renamed the country “Democratic Kampuchea.” Within hours of victory in 1975, armed soldiers began herding the two million residents out of Phnom Penh. Pol Pot assured them they could return.

Instead, the Khmer Rouge razed Phnom Penh and other cities and towns. The residents were forced into the countryside to work collective farms up to 18 hours a day on meager rations. Villagers’ houses were burned to ensure they could not return.

Pol Pot destroyed anything that represented capitalism and prerevolutionary society, including hospitals, schools, Buddhist temples, and hotels. The goal was to return to “Year Zero” with a rice-based economy and a single agricultural class.

To that end, Pol Pot immediately murdered the educated and people who wore glasses or had a high forehead (signs of intellect). Others were imprisoned in tiny cells and tortured “to confess” to “pre-revolutionary lifestyles and crimes,” which usually included some kind of free-market activity. The reward for a “confession” was execution or life in a labor camp with “re-education.”

Ironically, in 1979 the Vietnamese freed the Cambodians from their twisted leader when they extended their border war. All told, Pol Pot killed 2 to 3 million – at least 25 percent of the population – through murder, starvation, or disease. Many of the dead were buried in some 20,000 mass graves, or “Killing Fields” all over the country where human remains still rise to the surface.

Despite the arrival of peace in 1993, Pol Pot’s legacy lives on. Fifty percent of the population is under age 25. Forty percent of people over age 40 have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With 95 percent of doctors and 80 percent of teachers murdered, the country is limping along to recovery with little infrastructure. Even knowing the government plays fast and loose with foreign aid, Cambodia draws more donor-based nongovernmental organizations than any other country.

Phnom Penh is growing, with new government buildings and hotels amidst the remains of once-elegant French colonial homes and burned-out buildings. Siem Reap has doubled its hotels in the last five years and boasts the best Mexican restaurant in Asia. (We preferred standard Khmer fare of rice, morning glories, and fish.)

Although medical care is free to the certifiably poor in sparsely equipped clinics, 85 percent of children are seen in five modern hospitals established by Dr. Beat Richner with private donations. His hospital in Siem Reap is flanked by 5-star hotels. People arrive on foot or 3 to a motorbike: a driver, a patient, and someone holding the IV bag. By 5 a.m., hundreds of people are queued up. Street vendors sell French bread and crepes or rice and noodles to those in line.

A written constitution, a three-branch government, and multi-party elections proved to be no guarantee of good government. Corruption, economic mismanagement, and lack of transparency have become part of the government fabric. Consequently, some Cambodians have just tuned out.

Fortunately, many people refuse to be miserable and are determined to overcome past and current abuses by their leaders. Some carry those little black and white composition books and are not shy about asking for help with their English so they can get good jobs. They have their own vision of a better life.

Pol Pot destroyed Cambodian society by promising social and economic equity. Expressing no regret, his last words were reportedly, “Everything I did, I did for my country.”