Ben Carson says as a pediatric neurosurgeon, he hesitated to send children back to ‘infested’ homes

[TomSea]

Ben Carson says as a pediatric neurosurgeon, he hesitated to send children back to ‘infested’ homes in Baltimore

    Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson defended President Trump and his characterization of Baltimore as a “rodent infested mess” and said that while working as a pediatric neurosurgeon in the city, he hesitated to send children back to “infested” homes.

    Carson, who spent much of his medical career at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, broke his silence Monday night during an interview on Fox News two days after Trump started attacking Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and the city he represents.

    “As a pediatric neurosurgeon, I spent many hours, sometimes operating all night long, trying to give children of Baltimore and other places around the world a second chance at life. And usually we were successful,” Carson told host Tucker Carlson.

Read more at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ben-carson-says-as-a-pediatric-neurosurgeon-he-hesitated-to-send-children-back-to-infested-homes-in-baltimore/2019/07/30/ed36d47c-b2ba-11e9-8949-5f36ff92706e_story.html

[PeteS in CA]

At the hypothetical level, a neurosurgeon has opened up a path from the scalp to the brain, and it takes time for that pathway to heal and restore the natural barriers (especially the skull). Depending on the procedure, a piece of skull removed might not be replaced or the opening covered over (BTDTGTTS, or rather, hole in the head) or the surgeon may cover over the hole with plastic. And then the scalp is sutured or stapled.

Whatever the particulars, the natural protection from infection is compromised during the weeks of healing time. If a neurosurgeon knows a patient's home is rat- or roach-infested, the reluctance Carson mentioned would be professional and rational.