\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 http://www.wcvb.com/health/Doctor-refuses-to-treat-overweight-Shrewsbury-patient/-/9848730/16255838/-/79l2ctz/-/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Get used to it. If you think there's a discrepancy in care now, wait for if/when Obamacare kicks-in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 "Davidson said her situation was not handled with compassion, adding, "She didn't care about my health that day. I think she just cared that I was a liability to her and maybe too much work." Gee, I wonder why a doctor would be more concerned with liability than a patient's healh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koko78 Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Interesting. I wonder if for this doctor's next act she is going to refuse to treat blacks because they have a statistically higher chance of certain heart diseases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 When my father went for an initial visit to a doctor ~30 years ago now... the patient before him was being escorted out of the exam room by the doctor by the belt and back of his shirt. The doctor said, 'I told you to quit smoking. You don't want to listen to me and do what I say, then get the [eff] out and the next time I see you, it'll be at your funeral. And it'll be soon!" And then he threw the patient file at the guy. Literally. Paper went everywhere. Some people would probably be offput. My father loved this approach. He was our family doc until he died of ... either stomach or brain cancer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFanM.D. Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Wow. A 200 lb patient is too much. they had three injuries in their office? What in the world are they doing lifting ambulatory 200-250 lb people? I assume this woman walked into the office and I imagine she can 'lift' herself onto an exam table. She's not 500lbs. This smells of an office that is trying to weed out 'difficult' patients to me. I know I have zero specifics about what really happened but this seems like a pretty shallow policy....and I suspect there is much more to this than pure weight. I'd have to get rid of half my patient panel based on that..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 When I worked as a financial advisor, I used to fire or refuse to take on new clients who were either difficult or didn't do as I told them. This is no different. You don't have the right to a claim on someone elses time if they don't want to give it to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFanM.D. Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 (edited) When I worked as a financial advisor, I used to fire or refuse to take on new clients who were either difficult or didn't do as I told them. This is no different. You don't have the right to a claim on someone elses time if they don't want to give it to you. sort of. If this physician is involved in managed care and they refuse to see a patient (without cause) the physician can be reprimanded or removed from the plan. This is especially prevalent is what are termed full risk practices. these are high risk/potentially high reward programs certain insurances offer physicians. There is an 'incentive' to get rid of costly patients and this is closely monitored. If a doc refuses to see a new patient in this environment; the 'next' doc can appeal to the insurance and the 'full risk' costs roll to the other doc. A pattern of this behavior will get the doc booted from the plan. If a doc had a 'cash' office....say a plastics guy who does only nose jobs....he/she could fire patients as they see fit. Edited August 25, 2012 by BillsFanM.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
....lybob Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 All I know is that apparently your doctor doesn't need much of a reason to get rid of you- I had a worsening of a heart condition and ended up in the hospital for 4 days after which I stayed at my sisters for a few weeks while changes in my medication continued, through this time I was in touch with my cardiologist - but out of touch with my GP which I never even thought about- so I guess the GP's office left a bunch calls to my home phone wanting me to come in and then sent a letter terminating me as a patient - When I got home and went through my mail and found the letter I thought if I explained the situation all would be well- got to talk to the office manager, explained the situation, office manager went into her office and called the doctor, talked for a minute came back out and said "the doctor no longer wants you as a patient" and that was that- in the short run it was a giant pain in the ass but I eventually I found a GP who I liked better anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan-4-Ever Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Get used to it. If you think there's a discrepancy in care now, wait for if/when Obamacare kicks-in. Do you refuse to administer meds to your patients Doc? What's that term....... oh yes... The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by physicians, physician assistants and other healthcare professionals swearing to practice medicine ethically and honestly. Are mentally handicapped people next because that can't care for themselves? People genetically "large boned" or is that a myth too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary M Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 (edited) Do you refuse to administer meds to your patients Doc? What's that term....... oh yes... The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by physicians, physician assistants and other healthcare professionals swearing to practice medicine ethically and honestly. Are mentally handicapped people next because that can't care for themselves? People genetically "large boned" or is that a myth too? Just another archaic, meaningless tradition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath "Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy." Life has become secondary to money and convenience. Edited August 27, 2012 by Gary M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan-4-Ever Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 (edited) You want to compare obesity to abortion? for support you post a wikipedia page as proof? I wonder how many experimental pharmaceuticals that same doctor dished out? Edited August 27, 2012 by BillsFan-4-Ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 You want to compare obesity to abortion? for support you post a wikipedia page as proof? I wonder how many experimental pharmaceuticals that same doctor dished out? Did your parents have any kids who lived? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan-4-Ever Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Did your parents have any kids who lived? It's too bad the best part of you ran down your momma's leg. DOH My bad. I stooped to your level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary M Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 You brought up the oath, I just wanted to point out they don't follow it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 It's too bad the best part of you ran down your momma's leg. DOH My bad. I stooped to your level. No, seriously, I'm curious how you can involke an oath which your politics deems to be archaic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 It's too bad the best part of you ran down your momma's leg. DOH My bad. I stooped to your level. You could single-handidly change my mind about abortion. In fact, I think in certain cases retroactive abortion would not only be appropriate but preferable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Large Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Physicians often weed through the fat, sick trainwrecks to cherry pick the healthy people- it professional laziness for the most part, but from the providers prespective, do I want to see a bunch of sick people that gobble up all my time, or see healthy people so I can get out of the office and do something I want with my time.... In Private Medicine the provider just turn people away that are annoying ann high risk... if Academic Medicine, they concoct some research project that gets paid on Grants that gets them out of seeing patients.... Bottomline- there are alot of provider wo do not want to see sick, or fat people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Do you refuse to administer meds to your patients Doc? What's that term....... oh yes... The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by physicians, physician assistants and other healthcare professionals swearing to practice medicine ethically and honestly. Are mentally handicapped people next because that can't care for themselves? People genetically "large boned" or is that a myth too? No I don't refuse to administer meds to my patients. From where did that come? Just another archaic, meaningless tradition http://en.wikipedia....ippocratic_Oath "Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy." Life has become secondary to money and convenience. Yes, the Hippocratic Oath is an anachronism. Physicians often weed through the fat, sick trainwrecks to cherry pick the healthy people- it professional laziness for the most part, but from the providers prespective, do I want to see a bunch of sick people that gobble up all my time, or see healthy people so I can get out of the office and do something I want with my time.... In Private Medicine the provider just turn people away that are annoying ann high risk... if Academic Medicine, they concoct some research project that gets paid on Grants that gets them out of seeing patients.... Bottomline- there are alot of provider wo do not want to see sick, or fat people. And that's their prerogative. If they can make a living doing it, more power to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 No I don't refuse to administer meds to my patients. From where did that come? Yes, the Hippocratic Oath is an anachronism. And that's their prerogative. If they can make a living doing it, more power to them. once again, i couldn't disagree more. and that's why selection to med schools needs to be based on more than mcat scores and gpa's and why people looking at it as just one of a few accessible, high paying professions should be low on the acceptance list. taking care of sick patients is what anybody going into medicine should long to do.in this instance, i bet there's more than meets the eye. my hunch is that this patient has been noncompliant with many things including a weight loss program. if a patient is not willing to make a good faith effort towards improving their health and consistently disregards recommendations including meds,smoking etc, then i think a doc has every right to "fire" them. just as a patient has every right to fire a doctor if they don't feel they connect.doctors firing noncompliant patients will become more common, however, i predict. with an influx of new patients via the affordable care act, it will be (even more) counterproductive to beat one's head against the wall to try to convince noncompliant patients to do the right thing. and in the long run, this may be the most efficient use of resources...use them on people who will at least try to improve their own health. maybe after a few dismissal letters some of the truly noncompliant patients will see the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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