Friday, November 13, 2015

Tribute to Dr. Gino Tutera

Today I received an email from the wife of Dr. Gino Tutera announcing the passing of Dr. Tutera over the past weekend.   I only met Dr. Tutera 3 years ago and our relationship was more professional than personal but I must say that this news is received with great sadness.  This marks the passing of a great man with a big heart and the courage to challenge prevailing ideas in medicine with the right ideas.  He opened my eyes and provided me tools to help women in ways that I never could before.

Despite completing medical school with honors, being the executive chief resident of my obstetrical and gynecology residency program rand scoring in the top 1% in the country on my OBGYN training exams (CREOG);  I NEVER EVER heard of pellet therapy for women until I met Dr. Tutera. 
This is astonishing as hormone pellet therapy has tremendous benefits and has been around for 50 years!!   How could a studious OBGYN resident have not heard about this?  Pellet therapy is one of the most common HRT used in Europe and Australia yet many OBGYNs in the USA have never heard of it.

Dr. Tutera recognized 20 years ago when he started SottoPelle that hormones, vitamins and good nutrition are the key to WELLNESS.  Why wait until a person is sick to help them?  Why not help them when they are well to help them stay well as long as possible?  I thank God for Dr. Tutera and the men and women like him with the courage to think outside of the box.  This courage results in a better quality of life for us all. 

On this very sad day I want to say thank you Dr. Tutera.  Thank you for all that you have done to support the wellness of countless men and women in our country and the world.


Melvin Ashford, MD