News (USA)

Calif. man sues doctor for listing homosexuality as a ‘chronic condition’

Calif. man sues doctor for listing homosexuality as a ‘chronic condition’

LOS ANGELES — A California man las filed a lawsuit against his doctor and a Southern California healthcare network, saying they ignored his request to remove a notation from his medial records describing “homosexual behavior” as a “chronic problem.”

Matthew Moore
Matthew Moore KNBC

KNBC-TV reports that Matthew Moore, 46, who is openly gay, said he was shocked to see his sexual orientation still described as a chronic condition more than a year after he complained about the use of the archaic medical classification.

Last year, Moore discovered the “diagnosis” in his medical records following a routine physical.

The diagnosis was coded as 302.0, an archaic classification from The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (commonly known as the ICD). Code 302.0 “homosexual behavior” was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1973.

Moore is suing Dr. Elaine Jones of the Torrance Health Association, who last year defended her use of the description by saying that the medical community goes “back and forth” on whether or not homosexuality is considered a chronic condition.

He said that after obtaining an updated copy of his records in May, he said he was stunned to see that while the 302.0 code had been removed, “homosexual behavior” was still listed under “chronic problems.”

“It was infuriating. It was painful,” he said of his decision to sue. “It was another attempt by this doctor and this medical group to impose their agenda of discrimination and hate onto a gay patient.”

KNBC-TV reports:

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