Indian Health Services: Pedophile Doctor (1992-2017)

Ethics Case Controversy

Dr. Patrick Stanley Weber 

In 1992, the Indian Health Services (IHS) hired pediatrician Dr. Patrick Stanley Weber. This would be the start of his 20 years working in hospitals while being a pedophile. Weber would be the head pediatrician at the Blackfeet hospital in Browning, Montana. Right from the beginning, people started questioning the way Weber would act around young boys. The community would say that they would see a lot of young boys go to Weber's house with no parental supervision. This started raising red flags because Weber was a single man, he did not have a wife or kids and yet inside his house he had stacks of cookies, candy, video games, and toys for little kids.  One of the boys that people suspected to be a victim of Weber was Joe Four Horn. Joe was seen with Weber every single day. Weber acted like a father towards him. Weber would buy him clothes and offer for him to sleep in his house whenever he needed to. The community did not like how Weber was acting with Joe they felt that Joe was unsafe to be with Weber.  It wasn't until a father in the community confronted Weber, because he saw his own son had slept over Weber's house without him knowing. During the confrontation, Weber was given a blackeye and felt threaten by the community.

Pine Ridge Hospital

Weber decided not to press charges against the man who confronted him and demanded to be transferred. Weber got what he wanted and was transferred to the Pine Ridge hospital in South Dakota. Again Weber started showing signs of who he really is. Weber brought his own personal couch into his office and only had young boy patients from the ages of 8-16. Weber chose his office to be the last door on the hall and away from all of the other doctor offices, because he needed "privacy".



 Another boy named Paul, who was another victim of Weber decided to get revenge on Weber for what he did. One night Paul and a few of his friends decided to go to Weber's house to steal his money. Once at Weber's house they forced themselves through the door and started to punch and kick Weber's face repeatedly. As Paul was leaving he turned around and said "This is payback for all of those years". Weber then proceeded to go to the hospital on his own, and didn't say a word about what happen, he did not press charges again, and wanted to keep everything quiet.

Dr. Mark Butterbrodt

Doctors and nurses started to question Weber's ways as a pediatrician. Dr. Mark Butterbrodt was the only doctor to ever confront Weber of his ways. Butterbrodt knew what Weber was doing to his patients. Once Butterbrodt confronted Weber about what he was doing, the head of the IHS decided that it was better to move Butterbrodt instead of Weber. Butterbrodt was transferred 600 miles away from Pine Ridge. The IHS kept a pedophile doctor on their staff instead of a doctor to tried to do the right thing. Butterbrodt received a decrease in his salary while Weber received a raise.

Stakeholders
The stakeholders for this controversy would be the CEO's of the IHS, and Dr. Weber. People who were effected by there actions would be Dr. Butterbrodt, Joe Four Horn, Paul, colleagues of Weber, families who go to their hospitals, and all of the other non named victims of Weber.

Individualism

Joe Four Horn as a kid, and now

The Individualism theory is about maximizing profit for the stakeholders without breaking the law. If you were looking at this controversy from and Individualist point of view you would say that the IHS and Weber both acted unethical. A pediatrician is someone who is suppose to look after everyone. No matter the age, or gender they are suppose to be there for the people. For Weber only caring for boys ages 8-16, it just goes to show that Weber only cared about what he really wanted. The IHS acted unethical because they kept a pedophile in their hospital. There was some evidence that would say what Weber was doing was wrong and yet the IHS just looked the other way because they needed to keep this pediatrician of they would have no one.

Utilitarianism
The Utilitarianism theory is maximizing happiness for everyone. A utilitarianism theorist would look at this controversy and say both Weber and the IHS have acted unethically. With Weber he only cared about what made him really happy. Weber did not care about what he was doing to his patients all he cared about was what made feel happy in the world. For the IHS they created a poor working environment. Employees of all hospitals knew that if they tried to go against management, or spoke up about something bad happening that they would either loose their salary or be transferred. Employees were scared to speak up for something bad happening in their own work place.

Kantianism
Kantianism is a way of people making rational decisions in a form of a good will. From a Kantianism point of view, they would see both Weber and the IHS as unethical. Weber would abuse his power as a pediatrician to manipulate his patients into doing what he wanted. For the IHS it would be the choose to keep Weber as one of their doctors. Instead of firing him after the first incident they simply moved him to a different hospital where he continued to touch his patients. For the formula of humanity, this is where you would treat people as a means, and by that you are treating them with value. If you treat someone as an end that means you are just using there values to get what you truly want. Weber would treat his patients with value only to himself. He did not care for who they were he only saw them as and end for himself.

Virtue Theory
Virtue theory is when you act rationally then you will do good things in life. They're 4 main virtues for this theory: courage, honesty, self control, and fairness. If a virtue theorist was looking at this controversy they would see Weber as unethical. For the first virtue of courage, Weber did not show this. Weber decided to stay quiet about both times he was attacked because he knew if he spoke up then he would get caught for being a pedophile. The second virtue of honesty, Weber lied multiple times about ever having boys sleep over his house. For the third virtue of self-control, Weber did not have self control because not only did he sexually assault boys at his house, but it also happened in his office during his patients appointment with him. For the final virtue of fairness, Weber only looked after young boys. He did not care about girls or even babies, he only took care of boys. For a pediatrician, this is unacceptable because you should look after anyone because that is your job.

Evaluation
As I was doing my research on this controversy I realized that everything could've been avoidable. The IHS was managed poorly, and due to this Weber was able to get away for such a long time. Weber should've been fired and arrested on the first incident in Browning Montana. The things he did to his victims were disgusting. When you go see your doctor you are expected to trust them, not have to worry if you're going to be touched by them inappropriately. What Weber did and the IHS were completely unethical.

Action Plan
The IHS should go through a complete rebuild. They need to fire their CEO's and managers in all their hospitals. With this scandal they need to show that they will overcome what has happen for the past 20 years.
Their first step for the IHS would to issue a public apology for what has happen, and say they take full responsibility for what has happen. The second step would be to clean house. They need to fire everyone such as the CEO's and managers and start new. The third step would be to create a new identity for the IHS so they are not just known as the organization that had a pedophile doctor on their staff for 20 years.

A new mission statement for the IHS should be: "Be for the people, not just yourself. Prove to everyone that our first priority is to the people in the community.
Policies for the new IHS I would implement are based on having an open door policy. Employees can now speak up if they see something bad. They do not have to worry about being transferred or being feared of loosing there salary. By doing this we are encouraging people to speak up if they see something bad in the workplace. Another policy should be the set age for seeing the doctor alone at 18, however their can be an option at 16 where the patient can decide whether to have a parent with them or not. The only reason why this should be a policy is because a few of the victims of Weber were of the age of 16.
For security we should install cameras at every entry, exit, and waiting room. The reason why is that this way we can monitor what employees are bringing in and to make sure no one is stealing anything from the hospital.
For new doctors we should try and get new doctors fresh out of college. The reason why is that they could possibly have new ways of helping everyone in the Native American community.
The market plan for the IHS would to ask for a federal grant for money. They should ask enough to make sure they have money to hire a qualified staff and for a security system.
To regain the trust of the community, it would take time. We would have to prove that our new motto is to be for the people. Making sure everyone is healthy is our number one priority.

D. Depot

References
Rickert, Levi. "Former Acting Clinical Director of Pine Ridge Hospital Indicted on Sexual Abuse Charges." Native News Online, 7 Mar. 2017
Weaver, Christopher. "A Pedophile Doctor Drew Suspicions for 21 Years. No One Stopped Him." The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 8 Feb 2019
Martin, Nick. Pedophile Doctor Preyed on Native American Children for Years While the Feds turned a Blind Eye." Splinter, Splinternews.com, 8 Fed 2019
Shum, Mike Director. Predator on the Reservation. PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, Fed 2019
Hinderaker, John. "A Pedophile On the Reservation." Power Line, Power Line, 9 Fed. 2019