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The Struggle Continues: Doctor Diagnoses ‘Ghetto Booty’ as Cause of Woman’s Back Pain

By | Published on July 15, 2013
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“Ghetto booty” isn’t a disease listed in any Medical book, but that’s the diagnosis Terry Ragland received for her lower back pain.

Ragland, 55, could not believe the words coming out of Dr. Timothy Sweo’s mouth during the April appointment at Sports Orthopedics & Spine in Jackson, Tenn.

“I think I blacked out after he said, ‘ghetto booty.’ … I couldn’t believe he said that,” Ragland says.

The Tennessee woman says Sweo told her, “I know what the problem is [for your pain]. It’s ghetto booty.” The actual diagnosis is lumbar lordosis, which according to Sweo is a “fancy name for the curve of the lower spine that makes the buttocks protrude more.”

According to the apology letter Sweo sent to Ragland, he felt that using the phrase, “ghetto booty” was a better way to communicate a very complicated and technical term in a “less technical” way.

The reports say Ragland has filed a complaint with the state, and they will determine whether the doctor will be sanctioned.

Wow,  The Supreme Court weakens the Voting Act;  George Zimmerman is acquitted for shooting Trayvon Martin; and a black woman can’t go to a white doctor being insulted. What does this say about the country we live in?

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