---

Dr Vikki - The Ethical Doctor  (Talk Radio)

Vikki Georges Hufnagel MD was born March 17, 1949 in Chula Vista California. She came from humble beginnings. She watched a program on Albert Schweitzer as a child and was focused on becoming a physician like Schweitzer. Her vision never wavered. She was fortunate to attend Nova High School a Ford Foundation advanced teaching institute. While at the University of California Berkeley she was a founding member of the Berkeley Women’s Health Collective. She helped to establish the first free clinic for women at Berkeley Ca. She wrote chapters for the revolutionary self help book “Ourbodies, Ourselves” (Simon and Schuster) with members of the Boston Bread and Roses Collective. This early work was focused on education of women about their bodies. She set up as a student at Berkeley the first classes on Women’s Health.

The original edition was printed on news print. It was burned when Dr. Hufnagel had her office burned to the ground in 1999 by an arsonist likely trying to destroy her evidence files she had collected as a whistle blower. She had collected women’s health care items over the centuries to start a museum that were all destroyed. This included her family midwife books that had layered anatomy color printed pages. These items were priceless.

Reproductive Genetics. Dr. Golbus became a role model in ethics and family for her.

One of her student papers in infectious disease revealed that the Dalkon Shield was killing women. At UCSF she was offered several residencies  including urology with Dr. Smith, and cardiac surgery with Dr. Elliot. Dr. Way suggested she study gynecology to help improve the surgical standards in that field because she was coming from  a strong general surgical background ay UCSF.

At UC Berkeley she took graduate science courses to prepare for medical school.  She  was recruited to attend  Medical School at UC Davis first class. She worked with Caesar Chavez to set up a La Raza health clinic for farm workers.  Many are unaware that Vikki  grew up in San Ysidro with Hispanic family members. She also is part Choctaw.  She collected medicine and equipment normally giving to medical students to supply the clinic at the farm area. She transferred to the University of California at San Francisco Medical Centre to complete her medical school education. While at UCSF she elected to be come a surgeon after the head of the medical department had misdiagnosis her condition that lead to a surgical emergency for a ruptured gallbladder. She was the only woman in her class to focus on surgery. Dr. Laurence Way was her surgeon and mentor. She also took courses with Dr. Mitchell Golbus.

Several life events changed Vikki as a student while in medical school. She was mistreated for a year by the head of medicine  Dr. Carbone who decided she had gi problems because she was competitive with the males in her class. He suggested she stop taking surgical classes. He forced her into therapy at Langley Porter for her bouts of vomiting. She had to beg  another physician who feared retaliation by Carbone, to perform a GI study that showed her gall bladder was rupturing. She focused on listening to the patient which had not taken place in her care.

After the tragic death of a Samoan medical student at UCSF  from mesenteric infarct she organized a peer review of the death and saw firsthand the politics of medicine as no responsibility was taken.

The other life changing event was she diagnosis her best friend Denise Provost from Nova with a brain tumor. Denise had been in and out of emergency rooms in San Francisco told she was having anxiety attacks. As a first year medical student Vikki had an ability to diagnosis illness. Vikki made sure that Denise had the best surgeon in the nation at the time Dr. William Baldry. Denise had a large tumor pressing on her brain causing  seizures. Denise went on to become a Massachusetts state representative.  

After completing her studies at UCSF she  went on to study at the prestigious Cedars Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles. While at Cedars she wrote educational materials to educate female patients and set up lecture series on women’s health. She headed up the educational program of the Ovulation method WHO grant. As a resident she presented major breakthroughs in clinical research at the ACOG.  

She  served as the physician head the March of Dimes and was awarded a Fellowship in Maternal Nutrition at Chapel Hill. She created a Preconception Protocol for pregnancy that focused on genetics and prevention of fetal birth defects. Her reputation as a diagnostic wizard was known by the clinic patients and created stress  because the patients only wanted to see her in clinic based on word of mouth. This began the label “The Huf“.  If you had been to all the top gyn’s in Beverly Hills and still was not cured you went to see the “Huf”. She was an iconoclast early on. Her patients today say she was  the intellect of  “House” of that time period while being caring and compassionate, yet making the patient the responsible party.

Her advances in ultrasound resulted in the development of intra-operative gynecological ultrasound, bimanual exam with ultrasound, routine scanning for ovarian cancer, and fetal bonding for improved prenatal care. Her papers were honored at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology annual meetings.

While at the e University of Southern California Medical Center the television series LIFELINE was being filmed. LIFELINE was  a documentary series and this segment looked at the life of Dr. Dan Smith as a senior resident. The producer of the series saw that Dr. Hufnagel was focused on ethical issues she discussed with Dan. She was also noted to be the resident who was always there when Dan needed her. The camera crew commented to the producer that she was doing the work of several interns. The production team focused on her and how Dr. Smith mentored her. This show received national attention. Vikki received created extreme jealously by her peers. She continued to respect and have a long term relationship with Dan who became the Chairman of Gynecological Oncology at Columbia PH for many years.

While at UCLA she reported to the California Medical Board and the GYN Department that Dr. Larry Ford was forcing himself on female interns. She also reported that he hated blacks and was attacking and setting up Dr. Ruth White to have her career destroyed. Vikki had overheard Larry bragging to other male interns that he was going to get Ruth thrown out of the program. Vikki had worked with Ruth at UCSF and saw she worked hard. Having had Larry break into Vikki’s on call room and attack her, she hated him and was not silent. She was told nothing would happen to Larry because Dr. Moore’s favored him. Larry told Vikki he would destroy her for reporting him. This was the start of a life long battle (being blacklisted as a whistle blower) which she writes and lectures about. 

 

---

 "One of the most destructive things a woman can do to her body is to undergo sterilization.
The sterilization process can cause damage and injury to women's reproductive and other vital organs in a number of ways.” Dr.VGH