Preserving Patient Dignity (Formerly Patient Modesty) Volume 129
posted by Maurice Bernstein, M.D. @ 10:58:00 AM
184 comments
Bioethics Discussion Blog
What have you been reading, hearing or TV viewing that has provoked some feelings of comfort or concern about what is happening in the world of medicine, medical care, treatment or science? Ethics is all about doing the right thing. Are you aware of any issues in medicine or biologic science which are being done right, could be improved or in fact represent totally unethical behavior? Write about them here.. and I will too! ..Maurice (DoktorMo@aol.com)
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Tuesday, January 09, 2024
About Me
- Name: Maurice Bernstein, M.D.
- Location: Los Angeles, California, United States
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- Preserving Patient Dignity (Formerly Patient Modes...
- Preserving Patient Dignity (Formerly Patient Modes...
- Preserving Patient Dignity (Formerly Patient Modes...
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184 Comments:
May all your wishes for the new year of 2024 be reached and accomplished and that your days, weeks and months ahead bring you a better year. ..Maurice.
TC,
Let me respond to you. It is not all pollyanna. Of course I speak of my successes because they worked. One of my failures is JR on this very blog. I gave her every angle to try and they all failed.
JR speaks so kindly of me in spite of that. She found her voice. She does a radio show on the topic.
I guess my advice is ultimately "be a pain in the a**..." Be creative; JR took to the air waves. I started my blog. I teach other people how to advocate for themselves and how to file complaints and with whom.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
I hope that ultimately somebody with power listens and takes action.
I also play the gimmicks. I have seen excerpts (very specific wording unique to me) from my blog and postings that I made here and elsewhere put into policy in healthcare organizations. How has this occurred?
My best answer is that someone in the C-suite either saw my post or came up with some good idea that makes good marketing, and had an admin assistant write the policy and they will approve it. Why reinvent the wheel?
These admin people copy and paste what I have written and tweak the wording for their organization. This is top-down management in at the enterprise level in the healthcare industrial complex. It is up to the providers to deal with the implementation of policy.
Perhaps what I do is the butterfly effect. I wish that I could give you a "silver bullet," but I cannot. Try to take inspiration from all here, educate yourself, and look for solutions.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
One strategy is to seek the enemy of my enemy. I do not know anything about you, but if you were of African American descent, I would recommend contacting BLM. If you identify as part of the LGBT community, I would say the Human Rights Campaign or some other LGBT organization.
Another group that you can check out is Students for Justice (this is a group on college campuses). Maybe one of the groups that are pro Bernie Sanders due to the fact that providers are in the upper 10%.
There are many groups that will organize a protest outside a facility. So many people have become active in protests. Facilities don't want the headache or the publicity. Finding the right community activist, nonprofit, or lawmaker that wants to take up your cause is another solution.
You become the solution, like JR became a radio personality partnering with someone else fighting for this cause. I have to imagine in California there are a lot of groups that would take up your cause.
I sympathize with you and your plight. My issue is not about an all male care team, this is just another way for me to be in control and (dare I say) a d**k. I too want my pound of flesh because nobody has ever apologized let alone being held responsible. I am probably being vindictive, but if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
I hold all providers responsible. It is the same philosophy that people have applied to the police. The lack of self regulation and looking the other way puts blood on everyone's hands. We know that in society and every profession that x% of the members are deviant (criminal). (I believe the medical profession has a much higher percentage.) We do not hear of a lot of providers being disciplined, only the big cases.
-- Banterings
TC here. Al, I know it's futile to address this, but I'm a New Deal liberal (not a college campus PC liberal.. I have NO IDEA how it got to the point where schools can inflict biological boys on innocent girls & those stupid local local school boards make liberals such as .myself ashamed. .I wish I could open carry myself!
A lot of jacked up shit being bandied about in some universities. That said, the most influential universities are legacy institutions such as Harvard. They have always committed themselves to political, so io-ecimonic policies that benefit corporations & bankers over working class Americans. Overall, in universities, there is more outside financial influence by conservative dollars. After all they have the $$$!, (& News flash, it Int going to trickle down to you! Universities are now held hostage to teach Any Rand's books as a philosophy, when no scholar takes her seriously. Her "superman" was a child rapist & murderer who dismembered her prior to collecting a ransom from her father.
By definition "conservative" has always stood for elite corporations, & banks. Liberal has stood for the majority of working class people. New deal policies built the middle class in the mid century. Eisenhower was a guardian of these policies even though he was a a republican. Any present day conservative to Google his 1956 platform would call him a Pinko, liberal, Marxist, Socialist!
Conversely, the policies Eisenhower defended in his open letter to his brother, have been incrementally eroded since about 1971's Powell memoirs. Democrats are no longer guardians of those principals, they have sold out. The difference is they misrepresent themselves, as the conservatives are up front. They're bribed by the same lobbyists.
Since Reagan this country has been predominantly conservative. Red or Blue it doesn't matter. Parroted mantras of liberal "elitism" & the liberal "media" is fabricated by the conservative media, the pot calling the kettle black (follow the money). People are being dupped & randomly blame liberals. Your criticism of cities funding nude body painting is an example of PC social liberalism run amuck, it still pales in comparison to the other crap going on, that liberals simply don't own.
If you're reference to 800 billion being paid out, you might be referring to Obama care. That was a big fat kiss on the lips to insurance companies, giving them Carte Blanche to misappropriate everything. Not such a liberal ideal, & with docs & clinics getting free reign to do anything bad they want? Liberals are not their puppeteers here to be randomly invoked
@ banterings, my attack was harsh & over the top, & I apologize for that.
That said, please keep things real
& answer my single question.
"Doc you don't gimme my reasonable accomodations I'm going to write a letter of complaint.....,"
" And what's going to happen to me asks the doc?
He calls your bluff what price does he pay?
Tc
TC here
I'm back because I'm having a meltdown & it looks like my deadlines for pain management & simple knee surgery will pass & I'll totally quit.
I chose one particular Surgery center because they claim they won't require underwear removal, for simple arthroscopic meniscus tear surgery.
First consult with the surgeon yesterday, he told me that the facility habitually removes the patients undergarments after anesthesia, then sneaks the undies back on in recovery.
(I couldn't possibly dream of making it up!
I messaged the the surgery center their FB page & on voicemail . The call back was an administrator, Jennifer, who was shocked at those allegations & called all the staff in to see about underwear removal. All allegations denied.
She had spoken briefly with the surgeon who still planned to go through with my surgery (not for long) But she said thise were serious allegations, & she's going to have to be even more specific about them with the surgeon. (Maybe he has specific recollections & can name names & dates
Someone is fabricating something & it wasn't me. I'm sure a small firestorm will ensure, & I'll be without a surgeon with no questions sufficiently answered.
To make things worse, my solitary living arrangements bothered the administrator, such that the surgery might be jeopardized on the basis of a release from the facility where my safety isn't guaranteed. (In other words, their asses must be covered(.
This is history repeating itself.. EMC's covert plans to hold me overnight were partially spurred on by having no one around be after release.
I have to reiterate, I had meniscus tear surgery in Rochester NH in 1999,wearing Nike running shorts, & it was all smooth as silk. The profession has fallen off the cliff. Medicare gives me more options than ever, but the docs & facilities always cock-blocked my progress.
No more pain clinics or orthopedists if this blows up.
TC here
Banterings, thanks for your temperance & civility, & now I'm trying but must keep things direct. Still a lot of words but only wishful thinking & blind idealism to back then up. When it comes down to your referring to gimmicks (precisely & easily seen through or dismissed). Protests outside of facilities" you're fighting windmills.
No protests of stuff like mandatory underwear removal & all male care can be organized, nor will be taken seriously or sympathized with by anyone. Put patient dignity in the the perspective of all the horrible things that happen in the world. Most people don't prioritize privacy & dignity, given what the TSA searches get away with. (Maybe same gender agents make it acceptable for some? 100% unthinkable for me but I'm just an isolated crank in the matter. .
Protests, letters, pushing back most often gives you the opposite of what you try to accomplish. You'll end up like me with a bad knee & no facility to go to.
(Maybe it's all because they have the big bucks & we don't? Say, I have an idea. Let's put on a show & raise money to lobby Congress against & fight them in the courts. I'm sure most of us sing, dance & play instruments. Those who don't can get their parents to build a stage, sew curtains, & make punch & refreshments. We'll have that gosh-darn broken healthcare system fixed in no time
--Andy Harding)
Reality check! Hope my levity puts things back in context.
TC,
I would say to the doc, you are going to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions and you will be under added scrutiny from corporate. Worst case you lose your license, career, etc. This is politically correct.
Being politically incorrect I would say: Antifa protests on the front lawn of your house...
-- Banterings
Biker,
I agree with most of your assertion. I did bring up the locker room issue in the context of my fellow liberals losing credibility.
I don't think you're fairly delineating the decline of healthcare in the context of the rise of corporatism in all areas of our lives. Corporatism is strictly a conservative thing, Medicine has always been corrupted by money, & I think it's intellectually dishonest to try to pretend medicine exists in a vacuum insulated from law making & politics.
TC
To those of you saying this is not political, I would argue it is.
First off there is what some call the war on men/masculinity and the whole white men are oppressors, OR the women and minorities are disadvantaged movements. This has led to a decline of white males (and males as a whole) enrolling in college and med school. This includes medical related careers: nurses, technicians, etc.
Another issue is lobbiests. The medical industrial complex and the military industrial complex are the largest lobbying groups. It doesn't matter red or blue, here comes the money if you do what we want.
Here in Pennsylvania, the medical schools and the medical industrial complex lobbied against the passing of the law prohibiting rectal/pelvic exams without consent. The passage of this law was stalled for YEARS by the medical schools.
This is why I told TC that he needs to be creative. Using the ADA is the way to use a law for a different intended purpose to get the dignity we deserve.
-- Banterings
Banterings! Please, the ADA has NO TEETH! No one quakes in their boots at its mention anymore.
Al, I forgot to make this point. Red, Blue, they are funded by the same lobbyists, such as Big Pharma.
Today the Dems are taking us down the same road as the Republicans, but at a slower rate. Democratic opposition to Republicans is Kabuki theatre & only presents the illusion of choice at the polls. No real choice
The most consistent differences between both parties seems to be rooted in gay rights & abortion. I believe republic politicians really care about either, & it's just make it a rallying cry (along with no taxes & guns). The R House & Senate are about as sincere about family values & morality as the Hollywood Hayes (censorship) commission that forced abortions on actresses such as Lana Turner. They care about money, not people, & actually love taxation as long as they're not taxed themselves.
TC
Hello TC,
You seem to be asking for concrete remedies to your situation. You may wish to contact Nikita Bezrukov MD in Orange, CA. He does hip and knee ortho surgery. He seems amenable to Covr Garments, no catheter and/or an all male team. He operates out of St. Joseph Providence Hospital in Orange, CA. You might also be able to get a spinal or local anesthesia and be "awake" for the surgery.
He appears to be a very moral individual who local GP's criticize for giving too much info re the surgery. At an appointment, you might ask him all the detailed questions you like. If you don't like the responses, you can always walk. He's a young Ukrainian fellow who knows his stuff. He likes to use robotics because of their precision. He will also sign a medically reasonable doc indicating that he agrees to do x, y or z. An 8 hour (or fewer) hospital stay is not unusual. You can probably circumvent the usual hospital rule of transport after surgery by hiring an Uber. You'll need to be certain the the nursing staff is appraised of your unique situation. Securing a male nurse would probably be a plus. You may need to check with the head of nursing who does the scheduling.
If you are under full anesthesia, I don't know how you would determine whether your garment would be removed and replaced. The tear you're referencing seems to be a procedure which could be done with running shorts on; nevertheless, ask him. He has done podcasts from Providence St. Joseph in Orange during which questions could be asked in real time. Unfortunately, others on the podcast could hear your concerns if that's a problem for you. Since you can access one of these podcasts from anywhere, you can determine, before a scheduled visit, whether he seems credible to you. I checked Providence's website but, he doesn't seem to have an upcoming event. The ones listed are for patient prep and, they're conducted by a nurse. You may need to schedule a visit if you need quick results.
Reginald
AL, there are vast differences between Democrats & Republicans on many issues. All I am saying is there aren't any policy differences between them when it comes to patient privacy and dignity matters or as concerns the vast gender imbalance below the physician level. I am fairly apolitical and have no use for the D's or R's in the current political landscape. I'm not choosing one over the other in my comments. Neither gives a damn about male patients.
Any privacy/dignity complaint a male patient might have here in Blue VT is no different than what male patients experience in our next door neighbor Red NH. There are huge governance & policy differences between the two States on many issues, but not any substantive difference when it comes to patient experience.
Reginald. Thank you so much for trying. I occasionally listen to Thom. Hartmann, who makes the observation that Medicare Advantage is the biggest scam EVER to privatize Medicare. As he points out, it is an HMO, & HMOs make their bucks by denying claims & denying treatment. Old people have no idea they bought into it & don't know they really don't have Medicare.
I have straight Medicare parts A & B, & my secondary insurance is Inland Empire Health Plan (normally an HMO) but it can't limit impoverished SS Medicare recipients to its terrible dictatorship. Medi-medi policy is such that I'm not charged anything, as I'm living on only $1200 per month. This precludes my purchasing a pricey secondary plan.
There is a St Joseph's Providence 26 miles near me in Apple Valley & my preliminary research shows that those Socal hospitals take private insurance only. Straight medicare might be inclusive, but only along with a pricey secondary insurance. The website indicates no straight Medicare. So this Nakita guy probably isn't too poor.
Presently I am in my trailer, up to my neck in dirty dishes, smelly garbage that I can't afford to take to the dump with no dump pass--that includes my own human waste which is bagged from a porta potty. I have no intention of giving up my super quiet, solitary lifestyle in my vintage, art deco trailer. It would otherwise be Paradise if I weren't in such bad physical shape that I can't clean & organize it. (The emotional component of learned helplessness is just as paralyzing. I've been on the floor in a gaming chair for months hoping to medically get "beaned up Scotty". Now my lumbar vertebrae are herniated too?
Last year I set a deadline of mid summer 2023 to permanently fix these medical issues & gain back my mobility. The dust settled, no doubts as to the human corruption that's had me by the throat. This is a gracious stay of execution I've given the universe.
If I lose this surgery to a doctor who lied to.me about underwear removal, or hasn't reported it, & will scapegoat me to save face, no more safari hunts or wild goose chase for me. I'm done. They've "made my day"
TC
TC,
others and myself have been trying to give you different strategies and you are shooting them down. i have given you other ideas such as students for justice. you know your area better than anyone who does not live there.
have you no ideas inspired by what others have said here? here are things that just off the cuff i could come up with as creative ways to make noise:
-- i would hire homeless people to protest in front of a facility.
-- i would "find myself" and now identify as lgbt (a protected class).
-- find news anchor, radio show host, etc. is willing to share your story.
-- find others who were treated as you and form a local coalition
-- community activists & (low level) elected officials to take up your cause.
as for the coalition against sexual assault, read The New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault: Strenuously opposes the practice of performing pelvic and other invasive exams without patient consent.
i would contact the nj coalition against sexual assault and ask them if they have a chapter in your area or another organization taking up this cause. it is best to approach an organization in your area with a referral from another.
we cannot do this for you, we can only give you what has worked (and not worked) for us, AND our ideas (based on what we have learned) for other strategies.
-- banterings
Hello again TC,
I'm very sorry to hear of your living conditions. You might seek some social welfare organization that might be of assistance to you. I had hip arthroplasty (replacement) about 5 yrs ago. The hospital bill for an 8 hr stay was $75,000. Medicare allowed $5500. I paid $0. I also paid nothing to Dr. Bezrukov. He also was paid by Medicare. Basically, the hip replacement was free to me. Medicare paid for it all. I checked with every provider BEFORE the surgery to determine the cost to me. All said that Medicare would pay for it and, that was the case. I would strongly recommend that you investigate the possibilities. Some hospitals still assist those in need. I wish you well.
Reginald
Reginald thanks again. I suppose I could call Orange about Medicare, but I've made up my mind. No more beating up my car & making doctor visits a lifestyle or avocation. My female Siberian pain doctor & Asian-American male orthopedist are the last specialist I'll ever deal with. If their procedures aren't 100% successful, or if they dismiss me as a patient it's the last straw. Too much shit in the face & time to walk away.
As for Welfare. I'm intelligent, know all my options & already utilize them. Minimal SSI, is considered a type of Federal poverty based program, designed to keep you there. You get any additional dollars from any agency or source (gift or otherwise) it must be fraudulently hidden, or they take that out of your monthly benefits as an "overpayment".
State Welfare only exists for children (I don't like them & never wanted them) with a caveat of a parental work requirement. The state of California pays my MediCal secondary insurance. The county pays $110 per month EBT. There is a County heating assistance program (HEAP) that PRECLUDES reimbursement for filling up 5 gallon propane containers for my Mr Heater. I can only qualify for propane reimbursement if I were a homeowner with a foundation & a large propane tank. So to qualify for help, I must not really need it.
TC
I'm a very poor liar! "Gimmickry will only weave an incredulously tangled web of lies. IN NO WAY WOULD I PERSONALLY WANT TO BE IDENTIFIED AS LGBT. IT WOULD TOTALLY CONTRADICT MY REQUEST FOR ALL FEMALE CARE FOR INTIMATE BODY PARTS (present inguinal neuralgia a female physiatrist). I'M UNAPOLOGETICALLY VOCAL ABOUT THINGS MENS ROOM URINALS & MALE STAFF MEMBERS IN PALM SPRINGS CREEPING ME OUT.
I once tried to use being a prudish Christian & it backfired in my DOJ complaint. I WILL NEVER AGAIN PRETEND TO BELONG TO ANY RELIGION.
MY REAL IDENTITY IS ONE OF AN INTELLECTUAL, RATIONAL, ENLIGHTENED PERSON, WHO REVILES THE TOXIC SUPERSTITION, DOGMA, POLARIZATION & WAR MONGERING THAT ORGANIZED RELIGIONS GIVE US. I CANNOT COMPROMISE MY INTEGRITY IN FACE OF MEDICAL CHALLENGES.
I'M IN CALIFORNIA WHERE I'M ALREADY PROTECTED FROM UIEs, ALREADY ILLEGAL. I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT NEW JERSEY enough to waste my precious energy. I have too many problems of my own. Again, you're totally random
I was homeless all Summer after I attempted suicide. June 1st the day Land Use Code Enforcement set my eviction deadline --they carried me out with a systolic BP of about 30, after my landlady sent somebody in because of a fear of a $1600 fine Now I'm supposed to somehow pay to bus a bunch of homeless people to protest an indeterminate issue at an indeterminate location to accomplish what?
NO ANCHOR MAN, NO NEWSPAPER CARES ABOUT PATIENT MODESTY. TO 99% OF PEOPLE ( classic Authoritarian Personality syndrome) THEY ACCEPT & COMPLY with "experts" & play the game, even with TSA in airports. Outsiders visiting sites like this laugh at us. (I've already tested the waters I'm local FB groups about forced underwear removal. They virulently defend the doctors & attack me.)
Low-level politicians can't & won't legislate patient modesty laws. They're laughing at us too, & any relevant Medical laws within their purview will be lobbied for by "experts" not laypeople. Money talks, protest banners don't.
Banterings last time. Get the hint & leave me alone. Yes, I keep shooting your suggestions down. Posts ago I've rebutted you point by point in a direct, lucid articulate manner. I think I already won that debate, but you came back at only repeating idealistic gobbledegook, but also pulling more tangentially random bullshit out of your ass.
I can't respect any of your words or your approach. Your responses directed at me are not welcome. Keep your Messiah complex, continue to believe your leading this proverbial, obstreperous horse to water, but keep it away from me, it's passive aggression.
Reginald kindly referred me to non-existing social services, & I definitively addressed that. Unlike you, it's not going to shake him to his core to the extent that he can't accept the bad news & start making shit up!. He won't hound ne further about options & solutions that don't exist & can't be implemented. I seriously don't think he'll persistently push my buttons to a breaking point. But you? You have NO CREDIBILITY in my eyes & how can I remain honest about this without resorting to insults?
Banterings STOP right now, take your stupid foolishness elsewhere.
TC
Reginald thanks but predictably, it's confirmed they don't take Medicare A & B, & any web inquiry results in their trying to seel private insurance.
TC,
Fine! I leave you to yourself.
I just have one question: why as an "INTELLECTUAL, RATIONAL, ENLIGHTENED PERSON" you have not found a solution or have been able to persuade others to accommodate you?
BTW, I do not have a Messiah complex. I have empathy and compassion.
I will address you no more.
-- Banterings
Patient dignity and how to maintain that personal quality of life is something every person including those reading and writing on this blog thread have set their own and express their own criteria. And this is good and worthy for others reading. But while we will acknowledge that the criteria are personal, it is still worthy for others to read a one person's criteria.
I am pleased that both Banterings and TC have presented their own personal dissection and definition of what makes up their own criteria. And then we can learn a little about what dignity means to others. ..Maurice.
Wonder what this woman does to her patients who tick her off?
https://www.fox13news.com/news/cold-hearted-person-lakeland-nurse-fatally-poisoned-neighbors-3-pets-sheriff-grady-judd-says
As far as I am concerned, she should rot in hell forever if convicted of such a heinous crime. I have absolutely no compassion for those who harm animals. If it were up to me if found guilty her punishment should be the same as what was did to the animals which said was done to bring the most pain and suffering to them. It is said that many serial medical harmers start out as animal abusers. It is also said the medical community has more than its fair share of serial medical harmers.
Dr. B., I wrote another post but I hit enter and it went away so if you have one starting abt Cindy and I, it is from me--JR.
JR, this blog thread did not receive your posting "about Cindy and I". I hope you are able to prepare that posting and re-submit so it can be published. ..Maurice.
Dr. Bernstein, my criteria as concerns dignity in a healthcare setting is pretty straightforward.
-Ask me if it is OK before bringing in students or other observers. I will likely say yes to medical or nursing students so as to aid their training, no to college or high school students looking to be entertained at my expense, but I expect to be asked beforehand. Anyone allowed in should introduce themselves.
- Specific to chaperones (by whatever name they go by), do not try to impose one on me without my permission. Do not insult me by pretending that they are anything other than chaperones.
- State what you need to do before doing it so that if I object or have a question I can interject before you touch me.
- If there are treatment options, tell me the pro's and con's and then what your recommendation is so that I can make an informed choice.
- I understand and accept the demographic reality of healthcare staffing, but if I ask for a male to prep me or perform some procedure, do not bully, mock, or demean me with the "you don't have anything I haven't seen" or "we're all professionals here" kind of language. If there aren't any males available, acknowledge my concern and speak to it by assuring me that you will minimize my exposure to that which is necessary. And then minimize it (extent, duration, audience) rather than using standard protocols which do not.
Being respectful is more than just being polite.
Cindy and I will be doing an upcoming show on hospitalists. I have researched and came across articles saying that hospitalists add in a positive manner to the patient experience by coordinating hospital care, serving as a liaison between hospital care and PCPs, etc. However, this has not been my experience nor the experience of many others. My husband never saw an actual doctor during his stay at the hospital from. There was a doctor's name written on his board daily along with a nurse. He instead saw PAs and NPs who never identified themselves as such. Locally, hospitalists are generally newer MD holders who are getting their foot in the door as most practices are hospital owned. IU Health has this advertisement where they clearly infer a NP or PA is on the same level as a MD. (Scroll down for pics.)
https://iuhealth.org/find-medical-services/pre-admission-testing I would think that actual MDs would find this insulting. For those who do have no issue with a female doctor, are you also okay with a female NP or PA? Does anyone have any opinion on the use of PAs or NPs in place of a MD? It seems the corporate hospitals have found a way to edge MDs out of jobs by hiring a lesser paid NP or PA.
I have also read an article https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/10/1223828296/federal-fix-for-rural-hospitals-gets-few-takers-so-far This is what happened to our local hospital a few years ago. It is only an ER that also offers outpatient services with no inpatient care. If you are taken there via ER, you will need to pay transport to what they insist on is another of their locations either north or south. Most of the time they will try to use helicopters as this brings in even more $$$$$$. This is political as the fed govt. is giving money to encourage smaller hospitals to become on ER/outpatient facilities thus eliminating competition for the larger hospital monster systems who have spent $$$$$$$ on the latest and supposedly greatest tools. However, many patients feel they receive better customer service at community hospitals which was true of the local one here where I live. Has anyone had this happen in their community or does anyone have any comment?
I see healthcare becoming more and more impersonal. I think this why we will be seeing more dignity violations as it become more or less an assembly line with robot-like medical providers who don't care they are dealing with human beings.
Hi Biker this is Steve. I hope you don’t mind me replying to your post. I totally agree with your sentiment and being respectful to the patient. Well said!
This is Steve
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/10/1223828296/federal-fix-for-rural-hospitals-gets-few-takers-so-far
Here's another shining example of how politics affect healthcare. No wonder my husband was harmed because according to this craziness, they were "entitled" to harm him. How can any patient feel safe when you have no idea if the facility you are at preaches this crap as gospel and/or if the people giving you care hate you just because they feel they are justified? Clearly, the climate of Joe's hate-filled reign is influencing the medical system to feel compelled and justified in handing out "justice" wherever they see fit. I would say that male patients can expect to be treated without compassion, dignity, respect, etc. as they were the top of the list. This was from Johns Hopkins and although the woman apologized I, myself, wouldn't trust the apology. Apologizing once caught to me isn't any good.
JR, my primary care provider is a female PA. When I needed to find a new primary care doctor, there literally weren't any MD's taking new patients within a 1.5 hour radius of where I live. None. I ended up going 1.5 hours just to find a PA that was taking new patients. Turned out she was brilliant and very thorough. She diligently worked to get my blood pressure under control via adjusting my prescriptions, something my cardiologist never bothered to do. She recognized my sleep apnea and sent me for testing, something her predecessors never did despite me answering the same questions the same way for years. Turned out I had severe sleep apnea with my oxygen level going down to 82% and my stopping breathing 40 times/hour. She proactively follows up as needed when I see a specialist for something and the results she is copied on concern her. There are new MD's taking new patients now at that hospital but I am sticking with her.
On your other comment about the hospitals with limited services, I may not be entirely understanding what you are saying but in my State there is but a single Level I Trauma hospital which is also the only hospital in the State that provides the full array of services. My local hospital is the 2nd largest hospital in the State with about 140 beds, but there are specialties they don't provide. For example, if you need a cath lab procedure they need to transfer you to either that Level I hospital which is the only one in the State with a cath lab or a similar one in NH (which is the only Level I Trauma hospital in NH). The one in NH provides the helicopter service for all of the hospitals in both States. I have never heard of the helicopter service being abused here in these two States in the way you describe. The 1st transfer transport choice is always an ambulance with the helicopters only being used for the most critical emergencies.
What I describe here is today's America once you get beyond big cities and suburban areas.
JR, I read that last article you posted about rural hospitals. Now I understand better what you were talking about. I hadn't heard of that program before. In my State, all of the hospitals, except the VA hospital, are subject to State approval of their budgets and rates that they can charge. The State monitors their fiscal health and steps in as needed. None are for-profit or owned by those giant healthcare entities. Transfers to the solitary full service hospital, and its counterpart in NH, are just part of everyday routine operations. A few years back when my wife was hospitalized locally for a month, that large hospital was sending a nephrologist down 2 days a week to see patients, and otherwise directing care of those patients remotely on account the local hospital didn't have a nephrologist at the time (now they do). That precluded the need to do a transfer. The local hospital provides chemo & radiation treatments that oncologists at the NH hospital prescribe for patients for whom the 1.5 hour drive each way would be a burden, and then they go back to NH for followup tests and evaluation. Maybe hospitals in other States don't cooperate to this degree, but the system works here.
Biker,
Over 80% of the counties in the state I live in have a hospital. These hospitals used to be county hospitals but over the past 20 or so years, they have become part of a corporate hospital chained. Before that, more counties had hospitals but some have closed leaving those counties without any hospital in them. What this has done is increased the cost while leaving some without being able to easily seek medical care because of the distance and also because those tend to be the more rural, poor counties. Even in the Indianapolis area, several lone hospitals either closed or were bought by the chains. Indy once had a women's hospital which was bought by a catholic hospital which did away with certain services the catholics disagreed with leaving women less choice. In fact, the all women's ob/gyn practice I went to left and went elsewhere. We have at least 2 helicopter services (each with multiple helicopters) and it appears to me they are overused because they are extremely expensive and leaves a lot patients with huge bills. My husband was a victim of this if you remember as a land ambulance was never contacted and could have gotten him to another hospital faster as well as I could have driven him as he was completely stable but the helicopters bring in the big bucks. So many people I have talked with are dissatisfied with the box chain hospitals and long for the service they used to have from their local hospital but those days are long gone. In my county, we no longer have maternity services so women must go elsewhere. Doctors from the various hospital chains used to come here but they have cut back on that so people must travel which for some is impossible even with various ride services. It seems the major urban areas have an overflow of medical services while the rural patients are being punished. I have seen so many boarded up hospitals and bare sites where ones used to be. Despite all the talk of healthcare making advances, it seems to me that being able to access healthcare is going backwards along with the compassion it is supposed to have towards patients.
We've gone back & forth here about liberals or conservatives destroying healthcare, & I clearly point my fingers at those.. , crazed reactionaries.
Here LIFE SAVING Services are deliberately undermined for PREGNANT WOMAN ONLY by federal judge appointees of conservative republican. I mean look at it! No liberal would have any part of this. It shows the difference in a nutshell. Clearly a misogynistic implication that If they die in childbirth, it's only their fault for being female & having sex, even if raped. The same political clan that in 2008, invoked "legitimate rape" as a natural shutting down of female reproductive fertilization. We're still stuck there!
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-texas-case-federal-appeals-panel-says-emergency-abortions-not-required-by-1986-law
Just to be even-handed about my present medical providers: 1) my PCP is the only physician I'd ever want & is a beacon of medical sanity. 2) I guess (so far) my knee surgery is still on, despite the controversy over the orthopedist's casual remark about covert underwear removal at his surgery center. He now claims he didn't quite mean (simply what he told me. last week). 3) I'm not banished from my pain clinic, though they're unresponsive to my frantic patient portal inquiries. In person, I talked to an assistant who claims that I have to go back to square one, because of Medicare hoops to jump through before another epidural pre-authorization request -- though the first should be still valid after aborting it.
I'll just have to use this as an opportunity to confirm (w/my PCP) the optimal areas to inject.
I agree with Al, "you get the kind of government you vote for" but tI mean the opposite from him! The Federal courts are stacked with conservatives,
Yes, the news conceenu g the 5th circuit of appeals & the update on my doctor issues was me TC
This will shock so e of you, but there is a secret Medicare dental implant program for seniors on SSI, under the guise of jaw restorative surgery. Any pulled tooth is a fracture, & presumably Medicare wants it smoothed out.
To qualify for the "program" the dentist must purchase a $250,000 360° Catscan Machine, & opperate by strict Medicare rules such a as one quadrant at a time, with 90 day intervals between treatments.
The big bucks are made through filing down bone, doing unnecessary "sinus lifts" & then performing bone graphs, with incidental insertion of female metal implant screw that sets in 3 months). The dentist in Yucca Valley that promised me the world said that he is so overpaid for the surgery he can absorb the restoration process. Later, in contradiction, he implied that Medicare isn't going to wait indefinitely for the restoration & he wants to get paid.
This dentist has the worst reputation of any dentist, I was warned repeatedly to STAY AWAY. In April,2020 he had been put on two years probation for "gross negligence". His general dentistry days are done, & Implant surgery has resuscitated his career. I came to him suicidal about losing more teeth, so it was a crapshoot with his Medicare implant monopoly. It was an ordeal through which I called 800 MEDICARE to find a new dentist, only to get adamant denials about the existence of the plan (even after alluding to the statements showing $30,000 for jaw reconstructive surgery.
Lavanta will NOT do a .Medicare quality of Care assessment, no recourse. Googling for competitive dentists gives you Medicare Advantage SPAM ads.
(My kind physician tried to intervene by calling & faxing his facility for my records 3&4 times per week for 6 weeks, with no response. His Catscan are unreadable at other facilities such as Loma Linda).
DentiCal is very limited. : doesn't do this stuff. Malpractice lawyers won't touch this because injury isn't catastrophic (yet) & because of the length of time involved, statute of limitations.
My mouth (after restoration) is an occlusal nightmare because the lab work is so cheap. Digital impressions (inferior software) are done in lieu of wax for expedience same. The crowns are made of a cheap denture material, & he ain't redo it all.
An oral surgeon reviewed the work prior to the start of the restoration process. 08/18/23:the implants were deemed "clinically acceptable" by a Loma Linda oral surgeon, He acknowledged my chronic pain from the surgery at implant number 4. In a letter to my dentist he admonished the dentist that the posts must be clean & the crowns airtight. Nos 3 & 4 weren't cleaned at all & I just ate lunch. In fact most are so wide they overlap the vertical plane of the gumline & are inevitable food traps. I have to wait until April 3rd to see the LLUH Oral surgeon, who's not going to call out the national guard on my behalf who might go be me letter no one wants to read.
Number 30 is the only space requiring a post & crown. I will confront him, demand a mulligan, & not allow her m to continue, & it probably will get damn ugly, but I have no idea the consequence leaving #30 unrestored. His office & work is regulated & audited by somebody at Medicare.. I'm going to demand to get in touch with them, it it will be futile. Hell stonewall me as he did my PCP & 800 MEDICARE will disavow implant benefits.
Please, please: with each and every posting here before you end the posting be sure that your pseudonym is definitely recorded on the document before you send it out to be published. This is super-important for continuity. Look, my name is on the top and then on the bottom at the end of my posting.
..Maurice.
TC
At a certain point I had tried to log in under Google for simplicity's sake. However it was possible on my Android to provide the Google a count information & come back logged in to submit the post. Yes, MB, belatedly the two posts prior to your last past post are mine.
TC
Another setback. My pain doc is leaving the clinic & her assistant & procedure scheduler are trying to arrange one last procedure. I want both the L2 epidural & the US inguinal block done. She wanted them separate to discern what works, but obviously she doesn't want to know too much.
I'm out of respectful places to go, & it will be one & done. The next physician to see my privates will be rve coroner. Any additional problems to crop up "down there" I will shorten the interval of my coroner visit
TC again the lame give pain clinic post was me.
TC
I havent posted here in a long time. Nothing new to add. However, i have kept up with the reading and all i can say is IF TC acts the way he does here to his healthcare providers no wonder they don't want to work with him. We have enough trouble getting our points across and being listened to. Attitudes like that make everyones job that much harder and they will NEVER take the rest of us seriously.
Cat
TC
Cat. Your observations are clearly just a defense of two members, one who persistently refused to substantiate qualify his claims at my request, & only became increasingly tangential & incoherent. He simply wouldn't stop undermining his own credibility. The other member, put words in my mouth, showing a low degree of literacy.
I have a hard time with snow jobs & intellectual dishonesty in facing & underestimating the enemy (doctors & facilities). I also don't care for low literacy, poor critical thinking skills & false equivalents. Your failing to factor into the equation that the docs & facilities hold all the cards, are huge sin of commission.
My history with my physicians speaks for itself. Crazy stuff like covertly to keep me overnight for bilateral arthroscopic meniscus tear (Not my fault, nothing surreptitious from me). No such conflicts with my PCP, because she's honorable.
It took months to get that 11/10/23 pain doctor appointment, & both of us agreed to do both an L2 epidural & a US guided inguinal block I wanted both done ASAP at the same time, but she wanted to do them separately. What's wrong here. About a 4 months time frame that exceeds her unannounced (to me) departure from the clinic. This knowing that the other pain doctor (incompetent, & already visited at LLUMC) doesn't do US guided blocks & I won't see him. This is BAD FAITH from square one!
Scheduled L2 epidural attempted on 12/22/23, expanded to include L3, L4, L5 (at my PCPs advise) the last two puncture wounds were too painful & everything aborted at the advisement to reschedule & prescribe valium.
Big mistake #2, in spite of being told to reschedule my epidural, the receptionist a scheduled a "follow-up" on 01/23/14, a day that precluded performing any procedures -- but I left believing in good faith it would be fixed
Big mistake #3, 01/05/24 spurred on by a bad gut feeling, I called the facility to reaffirm the January 23rd procedure. The phone rep told me that it was a follow up. I vehemently denied that, & rather than kicking the matter up the chain of command to confirm & rectify, she cock-blocked everything, dictating to me that my procedure was finished (like she had personal knowledge) I messaged the facility through the website & the patient portal.
Big mistake #4 misleading patients into thinking the doctor is messaged. She is not. Her assistant Lisa reacted to my serious schedule fraud charges with NO SENSE OF URGENCY, & only said she'd talk to the phone rep. Nothing done
01/12/24 I stopped by on the way back from an MRI, met Lisa in person. She referred me to the surgery scheduled Karla D.
01/15/24 I get Karla D. She concedes the facility was totally at fault, that no procedure took place, & scheduling a follow up would be a wasted visit on all levels. Karla D also I formed me of Dr. N's departure in early February, hints that she might be able to get me in for only one procedure, I protest rhat both must be done. I also assert I won't live with the pain, & that's my last pain place ever.
Lisa informed me (01/15/24) that she'll see Dr N on 01/18/24 & try to advocate for me. What's wrong? 01/18 is too late with their proverbial schedule & the Dr's departure no real taking responsibility for using me as a pawn to pick the deep pockets of Medicare, taking their payments & hanging me out to dry.
You have the nerve to blame me for all this & deny being just a bit of a "Brown Shirt"?
TC
No more pain clinics: For the record:
1989 a 2 1/2" Vericoselectomy scar at inguinal area not consented to under anesthesia . I consented only to scrotal exploratory surgery to discern the contents of a small spongy mass (not having the typical large "sack of worms" vericosele texture) & an incidental vasectomy. This was malpractice & a medical assault.
1990 (La Mesa) & 1999 (Somers worth NH) very successful blocks leaving me pain free for 31 years
12/06/21 I went to the old pain doc at La Mesa who aggressively injected me at the waist instead of the left scar line he successfully injected in 1990. I tried to guide him to the right spot & he refused to listen. (Medical assault #2)He badly exacerbated it, & with two additional blind TPIs in the next 2 months.
A pain doc working out of my PCPs Palm Desert Office performed a protracted urological exam that no other pain doc ever performed, & her nurse ambushed me after the halfway point. Skeptical that she could help, & looking for an escape route (& admitting to not using ultrasound) she sent me out for a US scrotal (just a testicular measurement, & NOTHING to do with the 3 insulted nerves) & an equally irrelevant hip MRI. Her assistant calls me to inform me that my follow up visit would be a phone visit -- meaning no treatment. I emailed her & admonished her not to take Medicare money just to blow me off over the phone. She must enlighten, educate me, refer me to some other pain doctor, otherwise no need for the call.
She called, earned nothing if the $90+ Medicare paid her, so I confronted her about the ambush & she mocked me. Even my PCP wasn't happy about her behavior.
Subsequently:
EMC banned me after my January 2023 DOJ complaint for age descrimination. Prior to that I had a scheduled US guided ilioinguinal nerve block scheduled, but cancelled in favor of making sure I had the right provider & right procedure. (After getting the nerves stirred up on 120/06/21, not a goid assumption to assume the ilioinguinal nerve needs attention). At that visit, they took me to the ultrasound room expecting me to disrobe in front of 2 female medical assistants & one male scribe. Had I followed through with their plans, I'd be put "on display" for 4 "professionals". Ultrasound guided blocks are usually done with by one doctor, with one transducer in left hand, syringe in the other.
SAVAS only does fluoroscopic/sonar guided TPIs that can find nerves, but can't ferret out specific nerve inflammation. They also fear my suicide if they fail. At one point they were set up with a female scribe & male assistant for the procedure.
UCLA conditionally accepts patients who agree to being live teaching subjects. They don't honor ANY modesty requests, & demand open-gowned nudity for all procedures (even epidurals)
LLUMC dishonors requests to refuse medical students; performs blind TPIs, no ultrasound (that actual can show nerve inflammation) & the guy I saw there also works at the same clinic where I'm seeing Dr N at. No one else there to replace her except for that lightweight.
Bottom line is that tens of thousands of Medicare dollars were stolen under the false guise of medical treatment, & for more than two years I've been held hostage by these greedy, evil, self serving bastards. It stops here
TC
TC. What you just wrote about alarms me. I need to get to a doctor because my vision is messing up and I have diabetes. Diabetes has been killing my family off recently. My youngest brother died in November of 2022 but he died of Cancer. A younger cousin died the same time period at age 37 . He I believe was diabetic. Then a nephew in September of 2023 and Saturday night my brother who is a year younger than me died. My nephew was diabetic and my brother also..I haven't been to a doctor for years but I want to save my vision if it's possible. I haven't had transportation or health insurance but I recently relocated back to Ohio and hope to get some kind of health insurance started up. JF
TC here with nonw
JF Im sorry don't have diabetes, no internal organs or cardiac issues. I've suffered for decades with chronic fatigue due to an unspecified autoimmune connective tissue disorder with symptoms of Lupus, Sjogerns & fibromyalgia, not 100% consistent with any. It's also come out lately that a greater source of fatigue is spinal degenerative disease & stenosis that's caused muscle weakness & fatigud, intermittent neuropathy. It went undetected bevause I've been free of back pain until last year. For decades my finances ruined, begging physicians for help, all of whom took one look at me & said there's nothing wrong with me. The source of my physical ailments weren't discovered until after several suicide attempts & a
favorable SSI decision at age 62 for severe depression & PTSD . Now my fatigue symptoms are manageable because I don't have to work, but ALL the pain & dyfunction I'm experiencing was caused by doctors & a dentist (who prepped 6 teeth to stubbs that can't hold crowns.
The 1989 inguinal scar was malpractice & medical assault. The 12/06/21 ilioinguinal nerve block (TO THE WAIST) was malpractuce & medical assaumt.
The recent sacral injury from an epidural L5/S1 at wasn't medical assault per se, I consented to it, but it was a profoundly stupid idea of my PCP I've lauded, but now repudiate.
Problem is, the aborted epidural is an injury that took place a month ago, & is getting worse. No hematoma, no infection, nothing that shows on an MRI, but any injury that does t clear up in 28 days is there to stay w/ointervention.
What are my options? Another epidural the least invasive? (Einsteins definition of insanity!) More invasive micro or open back surgery, to fix an unspecified injury caused by a syringe? Narcotics for life, feeling sick & oozy.
My PCP is evasive, in denial of the reality my left sacral area is damaged & will NEVER GO AWAY (cont)
Tc
i have to do this in 2 parts.
part 1:
catching up here. my last comment was about politics. i saw the issue of abortion tossed around here. i want to show how both parties fail patients.
those pro abortion (more liberal side) call it women's health issue (i do NOT want to discuss this).what they say is "my body, my choice." i agree with this to a point (more on that later). yet, this group pushed for mandatory vaccinations. what happened to my body, my choice???
in the same way conservatives fought against mandatory vaccinations saying my body, my choice... yet they are against abortion.
each side is only seeing HALF of the picture. each is half right, but half wrong. so here is the constitutionalist libertarian in me (and most moderate people agree). i will start with mandatory vaccinations:
if they are so effective, beneficial, and safe they can stand on their own merits. they do not need to be forced upon anyone.
a good provider who is properly trained should be able convince a patient that a vaccine is the right choice. then the good provider can explore with the patient if it is the right choice for the patient as an individual based on that person's beliefs, physical condition, and goals (maybe help the patient clarify them).
lack of discussion, lack of transparency, mandates, immunity, censorship, etc. all point to "something to hide." this view creates conspiracy theories by the very people who call them disinformation.
now on to abortion. yes it is a woman's body and a woman's right. but that is not without limits. at what does the rights of the other person (baby, fetus, etc.) get accounted for? i would argue that doesn't start at the completion of birth (9 months).
logically i would say that once the fetus becomes a person (becomes viable). when it can survive outside the womb, then that is a person. by surviving, it may need incubation, still it is a person versus a "gob of goo." i am not sure at what point that i, but i can say that is not at 7, 8, 9 months.
now that is not absolute either. note the following situations are if they are discovered AFTER the point that the fetus becomes a baby. if these things occur before that time, obviously they can be aborted.
-- banterings
end part 1.
part 2:
there are situations such as rape and incest that are not the norm. even then, we as a society need to have protections in place for these people. by this i mean society should provide for a new identity and adoption by those willing to take on the challenges as long as the person will have an opportunity to live a normal life.
again, this is subjective what a normal life will be. part of it is quality of life. the same with other conditions such as down's syndrome. i know people with down's syndrome who live a (minimally) normal life. they are loved by family and friends, love back, and are human beings with dignity worthy of respect.
again, i am not the one to decide this. we must decide as a society after hearing all points of view. this is not only neutral scientific evidence, but from people with conditions like down's syndrome, their family and friends, ethicists, and anyone who wants to make their voices heard. the only caveat is that each who speaks identifies their personal position, the position they are representing (paid lobbyist), and the position of any information presented and the same of those who created the information.
it is ok if you are a scientist with your own point of view. if you write a paper, identify if the goal is for or against, or just pure science. if you as a scientist are hired by a group to bolster a position, identify that position that you are bolstering. having a point of view or a belief system is not bad. we do not make societal decisions based solely on science.
we risk going back to eugenics policies such as forced sterilization. we risk the occurrence of another holocaust. we risk the mass killing of females such as that which occurred under china's one child policy. these atrocities were committed under the justification of science.
the debate today about the dangers of ai recognize the dangers of pure logic. what if (ai) pure logic says that humanity is a cancer on the earth?
this is exactly the arguments that i make that physicians should not be allowed to self regulate, patients should have an equal (if not the majority) voice in guidelines, and patients should be in absolute control of healthcare encounters. again, a good provider should be able to convince the patient of the best course.
end part
-- banterings
Banterings, all I can say is EXCELLENT presentation of our current interest and duties as the healthcare provider and as the patient. Thank you. ..Maurice.
maurice,
thank you for the kind words.
part of my healing is in helping others protect themselves and get justice if they have been harmed. my one friend introduced me to some online communities. she has also been teaching others.
as per previous conversations here, while it is ideal that actions are taken against offenders that is not always the case. one can create uncomfortable circumstances and draw attention to offenders by regulators. i am sure that you have had dealings with the joint commission in your career. even the most outlandish claims has the commission putting facilities under scrutiny years after the complaint.
even stronger is using these tactics as a stick (opposed to a carrot) when negotiating treatments. this movement is much stronger than many people realize. just look at the number of states passing laws against exams on anesthetized patients.
this is also indicative of other problems within the profession. namely that providers saw nothing wrong with this practice. society has spoken and the profession of medicine has been prover WRONG.
(...again.)
i predicted this many years ago. i have been laughed at. people told me that it would never happen. it finally passed in my state (pennsylvania). not only have teaching patients how to protect themselves, but highlighting the criminal activity (think the larry nasser's) has created a pro-patient among politicians looking to retain their power.
the healthcare lobbyists have fought these laws in every state proposed. our quiet, invisible movement has overcome the billions spent by the medical industrial complex. as i have stated before, i have come across wording that has been written by me (i have never found elsewhere or is not a common expression) showing up in facility and system policies.
if the profession was proactive, they would change these policies to something more palatable to them. instead, society is dictating how the profession operates.
let me just say, what is coming next is is really going to be a lot of fun.
-- banterings
Well said banterings. Thank you for all that you do.
EM responding
JR - You asked how people who had a female doctor felt about female RN's or PA's. I have only had a single female MD whom I trusted enough for a genital and rectal exam. However, it is common that following a surgery or procedure, I have seen female PA's or RN's. I have also seen female PA's and RN's for a number of routine type exams that didn't include intimate exposure. I am fine with seeing a RN or PA as a procedure follow-up as long as I am not experiencing any problems post-procedure. When discussing treatment options or if there are issues, I only want to talk to a MD (male or female).
I don't agree with TC's assessment of the politics in the courts. Even though the Supreme Court currently has 6 Republican appointed justices and 3 Democratic appointed justices, their rulings are far from always being conservative and it is way more common for the Republican appointed justices to swing liberal than vice-versa. A "conservative" Supreme Court is a recent phenomenon.
I tried to find information about the political make-up of the other courts and I don't know how accurate Wikipedia is, but I did find this entry via searching:
As of January 16, 2024, of the 680 district court judges, 350 were appointed by Democratic presidents compared to 275 by Republican ones. Within the individual circuit jurisdictions, Democratic presidents have appointed majorities in 8 circuits while Republican presidents have appointed a majority in 4 circuits.
As far as the abortion issue goes, there is no right to an abortion granted in the Constitution and these decisions should be made at the local and state level by the voters. That is all the recent Roe V Wade decision specified. There are extremes at both ends and as a conservative-type person, I strongly disagree with the premise that there should be no abortions available whatsoever and allowances for instances of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is in danger should be made. At the same time, day of birth/after birth abortions (aka murder) for convenience is barbaric. I think a plurality of the country thinks abortion should be available but limited to some time-frame like 12-15 weeks.
I consider myself to be a Constitutional Conservative and have little use for the majority of our politicians on either side.
With the stories that TC has shared, I am really glad that I do not live in California because what he is describing is horrible. I may well receive the same treatment if I have to go to an actual hospital instead of a surgical center someday.
I did learn something interesting concerning the cancellation of my ESWL and Cystoscopy procedure. The surgical center has both a male and female anesthesiologist. Apparently, the male anesthesiologist, who was scheduled, was not going to be available and so rather than springing the female anesthesiologist on me, they simply canceled the procedure and asked me to reschedule.
The biggest problem I am having now is the rigidity of the surgical center's rules regarding transportation and after procedure care. In a small town, it is hard enough to find transportation for the procedure but now they want my "nurse/responsible person" to accompany me into the surgical center and wait while the procedure occurs and then stay with me for 24 hours after driving me home. I have had over a dozen minor surgeries and procedures where I was sedated and I never had anyone watch me for 24 hours. In addition to the urological work I need done, I am also scheduled for foot surgery in the next few weeks. To try and eliminate the "nurse" issue, I asked the doctor if he could do some type of local block and he said he could. Since he will be cutting through bone, I have chickened out and decided that maybe I don't want to be fully conscious.
I may have to cancel both procedures if I cannot hire someone to drive me to/from the surgical center and watch me for a couple of hours. Being watched for 24 hours is never going to happen.
EM
TC here
EM as we all know here, the same exact thing was done to me by EiMC last year for a simple bilateral knee scope.
That said, it's not explicit or implicit in the US Constitution that we patients have any basic medical rights, so are our providers free mistreat & abuse us?
All rights granted in the constitution applied only to white property owners. Nothing explicit or implicit there about black's & women's right to vote until future constitutional amendments.
Nothing Constitutionally explicit or implicit in giving blacks access to equal opportunity, access to jobs, schools, lunch counters, everything whites take for granted. In 1964, Congress passed Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 that I don't isn't really a constitutional amendment. So do states have the right to ignore it..
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 sort of guarantees we don't bleed to death without ER intervention. It's not in the constitution & that has opened the door for states such as Texas to throw it out, to deny pregnant women from life saving treatment. Is there anything more insanely discriminatory?
There's a reason Ronald Reagan kicked off his campaign in Philedelphia, Mississippi, at the site of the brutal murders of the black activist James Chaney and white civil rights workers Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman. He invoked "States Rights, State's Rights!"
TC
I couldn't find, looking through the last 2 Volumes that we here had any discussion of the value of AI (artificial intelligence) in reducing the incidence of patient-medical professional conflict and improve the attention to maintain the dignity of patients.
And here is a link to the topic of AI in medical practice:
https://www.health.org.uk/publications/long-reads/what-do-technology-and-ai-mean-for-the-future-of-work-in-health-care
..Maurice.
TC
https://physiciansareevil.blogspot.com/?m=1
This blog I started isn't terribly significant at this point, but it might serve a future purpose in terms of a final denoument
My pain doctor glibly & tactlessly told the the facility to "refer me out" as she's leavingut Ive been everywhere, & know my options better than they, .Medicare & my PCP, who has been apathetic & conspicuously absent throughout this.
TC
TC,
I love the blog. This is part of what I try to encourage. Yes, I wish that filing regulatory agencies and licensing agencies would regulate. I know that this is pie-in-the-sky. We must try. Some will succeed, most will not, and that comes down to the money in healthcare and the lobbying.
Now the net is weaved. By that I mean your blog is mentioned here. I will mention it on other forums that I post on. You are another injured patient that the healthcare system and regulators have failed to protect.
I am sure that at some point JR and Misty may reference it as well. Whether or not we agree with each other, we can point to each other and say that the healthcare system and the regulators have repeatedly failed to protect us to the point that we have to get vocal.
As our voices get louder, it gets harder to deny the failures of the system.
-- Banterings
TC
Thanks but I never meant the blog to be really active. It's there only as an reference, an after the fact addendum to the culmination this last insane, medical chapter of my life . Please don't spread the word, My end gain is different from yours & not about fighting windmills.
My PCP tried to help but the pain clinic in Redlands and Victorville refused her call. She's actually an attentive doctor.
Dr Anna N glibly told her Victorville assistant to that because she's leaving to "refer me out". Leaving me with no treatment, & vinsulting me in her condescension behind the notion that they can pull out of a hat the names of providers I already saw or passed over for good reasons.TC
TC and all contributors to this blog and blog thread, you should not identify any named or inferred individual medical professional or medical institution as having carried out what the contributor feels or finds is unprofessional or even criminal unless this description has already been described in the public news media. Describe in the degree of details you desire to make a point but don't name names or in any way make a specific institution identifiable. ..Maurice.
Dr. Bernstein, on the matter of AI in healthcare, I am not savvy enough at a technical level to offer an educated opinion, but I suspect the impact will be profound in both positive and negative ways, the same as every other major technology innovation society has experienced in the past century or so. Perhaps it will quickly distill information in more complex cases or provide better analysis of test results. On the downside, I question whether AI will really be able to replace a doctor's intuition about what is going on with a patient, and whether healthcare conglomerates will allow doctors to overrule their AI.
Maybe AI will offer an effective compromise for patients that object to chaperones via robotics that serve in that function. I thought of that one the other day when I was in a BJ's (same as a Costco elsewhere in the country). There was a robotic device independently scanning shelves checking inventory and adjusting its angle to get the view it wanted, and at the same time being fully aware of its position relative to customers so as not to interfere with customer movements. It had to of been AI powered. It didn't move as fast as a human checker might, but it can work 24/7. If I had a choice of a female 20 something Medical Asst staring at me having an intimate exam or an AI robot, I'd go with the robot. The downside of course is whether AI could allow the robot to be a true observer rather than just a recording device which brings with it the matter of securing what has been recorded.
TC here
In an intimate exams, no staring female assisistants (or AI) would work to the benefit of patients, so it must be fought. Scribes can leave the room while the doctor examines, then re-enter while the doctor announces his findings to the patient (as he should) & records it. Chaperones are there 100% for the doctor & facility to suppress both false & legitimate SA accusations.Profit or 501(C) their principle priority is to make a buck & to keep it. No facility I know of cops to malpractice or SA when it really happens. They'll lie, corroborate & fght you tooth & nail if you accuse & sue. They even preemptively put you at a disadvantage when you have to sign away your right to sue or you won't get get treatment -- which gives them greater license to harm the patient. This is adversarial from the start, upfront about
As we've seen at the most prolific sec-abise institutions (USC. UCLA, Columbia, Michigan University) Chaperones are trained to corroborate what the doctor says. A robot will similarly be programmed for the same. Exams aside, AI seems that it might have potential for surgical procedures
TC
https://www.medpagetoday.com/psychiatry/depression/108385?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2024-01-23&eun=g1390050d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Headlines%20Evening%202024-01-23&utm_term=NL_Daily_DHE_dual-gmail-definition
If the medical community was truly worried abt the negative side effects of Roe v. Wade being returned for each state to set their own laws, why haven't they done anything about religious hospitals who refuse to recognize a woman's right to have sterilization done? It seems religious hospitals especially catholic hospitals have forever denied a woman's right to decide what happens to her body.
Also, why isn't the medical community concerned abt the depression, anxiety, and etc. that many patients have because of the lack of control over who sees or touches their bodies along with the depression, anxiety, etc. caused by lack of true informed consent but really just a lack of general truthfulness? It seems to me they pick and choose what "rights" they want to protect as being "rights" that do not interfere with their need for power, control and greed. Since the medical community seems to believe abortion should be a federal matter perhaps they should also fight for there to be a standard operating procedure manual that spells out exactly how each medical encounter will be handled along with a true and protected patient bill of rights?
But no, abortion is political. They really don't care abt a woman's right to control her reproductive system. Why do I say this? Because they may spout a woman has rights over her reproductive system but they do not believe this same woman has the right to refuse intimate care she doesn't want or her right not to be unnecessarily exposed nor do they believe she has a right to say who sees or touches her. Most believe she most accept their chaperone being present during intimate exams. They believe she should agree to whatever treatment they mandate as many feel patient consent is unnecessary. They also feel they may render this same woman unconscious and allow her to be group raped for the good of medical students. Make no mistake it is rape when she has not given explicit consent nor does the "rape" help her and it is certainly not like what E. Jean Carroll said, "CARROLL: I think most people think of rape as being sexy." The unconscious victim may never realize what happened because the medical mafia doesn't believe it is her right to know. All she may know like one nurse who suffered this in the OR knew that she "hurt". She finally find out what happened and I bet that is a date she won't forget because she talked abt the heinous violation of her body. Like most usual victims of rape, most will avoid the place they were violated. I know my husband does. He also did not feel it was "sexy". But the medical community is supremely okay with denying women this right of saying what happens to their body. I really don't believe they believe patients have any rights except whatever they grant them.
TC here:
I made an appointment with an experienced male doctor at the last viable local pain clinic. I inquired to the new patient coordinator about passive spectatorship. She informed me no chaperones, but scribes are always present, I'd have to ask the doctor at the appointment to put her outside or behind a screen at his discretion -- but she surmised that it all seems reasonable enough for him to honor.
So, here's a situation where there's no good clinical justification for her to actually stare at my privates, & furthermore there isn't the potential controversy of a cross gender exam (unless the doctor is a homosexual with a guilty conscience). My hunch is that my verbal or written request will threaten his authority. (Too bad, I just found a lady pain doc who doesn't use unnecessary assistants, & she left the practice).
I also made an appointment at a pain management department of an LA teaching institution (of ill-repute) where where I can opt out of the teaching program. Still, no opting out of chaperones & assistants per se. I did contact the school's Patient Experience and EEOTIX department with my written request for reasonable accommodation (posted today on my PhysiciansAreEvil blog, y'all can peek at that).
What invalidates my request under the ADA is that there's no psychiatrist's prescribed PTSD remedy, excluding of universally established medical practices such as underwear removal & passive staff spectatorship. There never will be such a note.(they backfire) so no psychiatrist (or doctor) will play David to pit himself against any medical Goliath on our behalf.
Nothing documented anywhere about PTSD in an ADA context, outside of employment, & definitely not within the confines of a medical facility. The therapist's letter is the only ADA catalyst, it will be shot down on bogus medical rationalizations, because common medical practices haven't been scrutinized & revised by law. No Federal Patient Bill of Rights privacy & dignity protections exist. If there were, 31 states wouldn't have needed to legislate statutes that prohibit medical students from violating anesthetized patients. The other 29? States rights!
Title 22 in California has a "Patient Bill of Rights" that no longer includes "dignity" in any of its statutes. I guess that would open up the patient modesty floodgates to challenge medical perversity. Eliminate "dignity" from title 22 & no state statute modesty violations can ever even exist. Privacy in title 22 only concerns medical records, stuff already covered in HIPPA. Only one funny but relevent statute: "to know the reason for the person present". The reason can be, "those are HS students on a class trip observe your surgery (it happens) but nothing in title 22 allows the patient tp exclude ANY intruding audience, particularly scribes, MAs & chaperones.
BTW, the CA Department of Managed Health Care doesn't have any disciplinary powers in enforcing anything!
TC
Well JD I'm 100% in agreement with you there,
TC
Sorry, JF
TC
I meant JR I agree
TC
https://www.milfordregional.org/patients-visitors/patient-rights/
https://www.foxnews.com/media/milford-regional-medical-center-warns-deny-care-unwelcome-words-race-gender
These two news articles are abt Milford Reginal Medical Center in Mass. If you read their so-called patient rights you will find what they are now saying in direct conflict with it. So if a patient refuses opposite gender care, this would fall under "unwelcome words"? It does go on to explain that you may be given an opportunity to explain but why should you have to explain? It is not enough that you should be able to say who sees or touches your body? Apparently, not in the world of the medical mafia as they are superior to patients and really believe they own you therefore must be submissive to their commands/demands.
I feel others will follow as this is the present atmosphere so for patients wanting to have a say in their intimate care, they will find it more and more difficult to follow their personal convictions because this BS will trump their needs.
Also read an article abt medical students testifying that if they were not freely allowed to perform abortions in a state, they would leave it. I haven't heard any medical student saying that if a patient was a victim of group rape via unconsented for pelvic/rectal exam(s), they would leave that state. I also have not heard or seen any of them saying they believe patients have the right to select who is involved in their intimate care....Funny how their moral compass works or really is selectively working. I wonder it these same students who believe abortions can be performed full termed or after the baby is independent of the host also support the premise that Susan Smith and others like her had the right to perform a full term "abortion"? Does it mean that at anytime the one who gave birth can decide to end that life at any time maybe even 5, 10, 20 , 50 years down the road?
JR excellent points! What I have always wondered is who has the authority to make these kind of decisions, and draw those lines?
The medical mafia has no moral compass. They are willing to carry out preemployment exams that go far past ADA primary function guidelines (in which hernias are tertiary job function even with heavy lifting). If a doctor is hired for a job physical, the employee )not in the role of patient) becomes a piece of chattel for the employer & physicians.. Medical people have no problem with doing supervised, observed urine tests if an employer asks. I often wondered if prostate exams are needed to get pilot
licenses & this is what I googled:
"Your reproductive health is your responsibility. The AME may ask if your last exam was normal, or make recommendations for preventative health screenings. There is no requirement for a breast, prostate, hemorrhoid, hernia, scoliosis, rectal, or vaginal exam, or PAP test"
All employment related exam outside of Nevada brothels should should adapt these sain FAA guidelines, but but why miss an opportunity to get paid more & to subjugate & sexually abuse a patient? They are control freaks & whores who even carry out lethal injection executions for money.
It's all so self incriminating: hired executioners; UIEs on anesthetized (& conscious) patients that's accepted & not stopped by peer pressure!; teaching hospitals such as M-Health, BU, UM, MSU, OSU, Columbia, UCLA, USC, serial molesters thrived & flourished in their sexual shenanigans, thanks to peer & administrative complicity & coverups
Those are the places that got caught!
Maurice, you encourage professionals in the health field to give their two cents here. Well, you're not paying them to join, & they care mostly about money. They are mostly part of the status quo who perpetuate it, but won't dare come to this forum to try rationalize what's obviously not ethical.
TC
TC here, advise?
My back is normal again, no structural or pain intervention needed there, just the left waist/inguinal/groin area needs an L1 l2 epidural, them maybe a US inguinal block.
My prospective pain doc always works with a scribe, & does epidurals a surgical facility that doesn't mandate underwear removal, leaving it up to the doctor's discretion. (Same place as my upcoming knee scope.)
I have his email, I want to compose & send a brief general medical history with a history of present illness, & reasonable Privacy & Dignity accomodations: 1) limiting assistant participation to lending an extra hand to the procedure (no spectatorship which means my intimate exams or provedures.must not be in view of the scribe 2) no underwear removal for the epidural -- elaborating that for the aborted epidural I was fully clothed with just minimal displacement of my shirt & pants.
Or I can leave the request out of the email, go to that first appointment & refuse the exam if the scribe doesn't step outside or at least go behind a screen.(They'll get paid even if I angrily walk out).
If I survive that visit & get to the second round of the epidural I can have a stand off about underwear removal (the facility does have its own underwear that some surgeons believe to be less infections, & I can bargain & compromise, if needed.
So the question is email my requirements before, print them out at the first visit (w/o a doctor's note it's not a valid ADA request) or just get in a pissing contest. What will work best?
TC
That last post was Jeff
It is important for all readers to know who is posting the post they are reading. Please, everyone who is posting their comments to this blog thread end their posting with their pseudonym. TC wrote the "that last post was Jeff" yet the previous post was ended by TC. If you are quoting someone other than yourself, please make the quotation clear as to the original writer. Everyone, please, please make your that your posting is properly identified with your own pseudonym.
Thanks. ..Maurice.
Dr MO,
Don't put words in my mouth, I did not post that 1:33am comment, a reply to a reply to JR. No replies from me identifying Jeff, I'm too much of an intellectual to assume ANYTHING, TO BUTT IN. & ARROGANTLY IDENTIFY OTHERS, while not knowing their identity. A glitch occurred preventing me from posting the following:
TC here! I DID NOT WRITE THAT THE LAST POINT WAS PROBABLY JEFF.
Obviously in reply to the JR's previous post (complimenting jr) HE forgot to post his name, then most likely came back & identified himself.
TC again, maybe your webmaster can tell you & us why this blog won't allow some to sign in via Google account?
TC here
https://physiciansareevil.blogspot.com/2024/01/request-of-reasonable-modesty.html
I just emailed the new pain clinic (where screenshot bed are always in office) & new doctor with this HPI & General medical History, & asked for common sense dignity & privacy accomodations that should apply to everyone, not just MSA (Med sex abuse) survivors should ask for.
Such rrllreasonable demands that if at my 02/05/24 visit, if the doctor tries to force me to expose myself to that dirt bag, whore of a stenographer (w/med vicabulary) I'm calling 911 & making a citizens arrest for attempted forced exposure.
I'll die before I yield to those pigs & I won't need treatment.
To All: How should a physician or nurse be punished by a reaction of the patient for activity and behavior which that patient finds is unprofessional and damages the patient's personhood and dignity? What punishment would make for better behavior to both the patient and for other patients to which the professional attends? Moaning and groaning on a blog site such as this may not be observed by that physician or nurse. So what is your suggested technique? ..Maurice.
Where do you begin? Sexual abuse is 100% institutionalized in medicine. For ing nudity in ANY situation is a crime against humanity, & that's all they do. Assaults on dignity is synonymous with healthcare. It's the essence of it
TC
If rules & laws aren't made, then you can't punish. They make up their own rules.
I'm going to invoke the sentencing of Larry Nassar.. The judge condemned him to life in prison where people would do to him for the rest of his life what he did to his victims. (Her words!) I doubt he was sexually assaulted in showers (though one can only hope) but the beating he took in Arizona, & the stabbing be took in Florida is still too good for him.
Nearly all medical people are guilty. Any medical student who sexually assaulted an anesthetized women is, in effect, Larry Nassar. Every physician who sent his med students into the OR for that IS Larry Nassar, & what healthcare workers haven'tsimilarly assaulted patients before? They deserve the same fate. Incarceration, disgrace, prison rape, humiliating strip & cavity searches, living in terror of being beaten or stabbed like a child molester might.
TC
Dr. Bernstein, healthcare staff shouldn't be punished simply on the basis of patient reaction to their care. The system would quickly collapse if that were the case. There are too many emotionally unbalanced or unreasonable patients out there for it to work that way. What is instead needed are clear standards of care that are taught & enforced in the manner that standards of behavior are enforced in every other industry.
The problem currently is that standards of care are defined in vague terms such as "respect privacy" which is then left to each staff member or each hospital or practice to decide what that means. Meaningful standards can easily be defined for common procedures & tasks. How hard would it be to document that accessing abdomens should require genitals be kept covered at all times? That groins should be shaved one side at a time while keeping the genitals covers? That scribes should be positioned so as to preclude direct observation of intimate exams?
When it comes to the gender aspect of this discussion, the standard can't be "gender of patient choice" given the underlying demographics of healthcare. It isn't so easy as simply saying hire males into many positions when few if any males are trained or apply for many positions. Male nurses statistically gravitate to ER's, OR's, & ICU's and they can't be forced to work in urology, dermatology, or anywhere that they don't want to work. Men can't be forced to become CNA's or Medical Assistants. Yes there should be programs encouraging men into non-physician roles, but even if there were, it would take a generation to effect a transformation given the extent of female domination in all non-physician fields. Practices & hospitals can be mandated & subsequently have to report on affirmative action efforts in this regard, same as they are already reporting under Affirmative Action mandates on their staffing practices as concerns racial minorities & women.
On the gender issue, the standards of care can ban the current dismissive, bullying, and/or mocking phrases discussed here many time. They can require patients be asked for their preferences when such options exist.
Lastly, as in any other industry, violations should be dealt with via additional training, warnings etc. in a progressive manner with egregious purposeful violations warranting immediate termination. Same as every other industry.
After writing a medical synopsis & request for reasonable accomodations, I was continually told to talk to the doctor at my 0/2/05 appointment. They said there are always scribes (just MAs, not even nurses) in the rooms with the doctor at all times. I reiterated that I'm a PTSD surbiver asking for reasonable accomodations & they said their giving it to me & treating me like all the other patients.
No assitance for ADA failures outside of employment.. all labor related n
I think a large part of the problem could be improved if Medicine would admit that there is an issue. Make a woman's floor and a men's floor. Male CNA 's shouldn't be hard to hire. Just train some up and put them to work. If that's too expensive give them some work to do while they're training. I wouldn't have to be hands on the patient while they are orientating. As far as chaperones go there should be more than one exam room and a male chaperone bin one room ( doing other work ) and a female in the other office doing her own work. No need for them to be watching intimate exams. At least not closely. Medical staff's proof of not being abusive is abusive. Also a camera outside of the exam rooms to insure privacy curtains are being used and fines given if exposed patients are on the bcakeras
Sorry Dr B. That last post was mine. My junky phone wouldn't let me add my initials. JF
TC (above & here)
Unbelievable. I just wrote an extensive title 3 violation complaint , & sent it to the "correct email":
ada.complaint@usdoj.gov.
And it bounced. No such address exists. It's what's in the web site. I told you all that conservatives have ereided it all.
here is the problem; providers tell us all the time how smart they are, how much education they have (we are not doctors), all they went through with school, residency, blah, blah, bah... then they fail to realize something so simplistic that most people are not comfortable being naked in front of a room full of people.
there are so many atrocities committed by these caring people: the larry nassar's, the tuskegee's, the holocaust, and the list goes on ad nauseam. i have only ever seen one doctor stand up and say (or issue a statement): as a medical student, i violated a patient without their permission. that was peter ubel who was one of the first to speak out.
so many are guilty, why nobody else speaking up? it only bolsters my position that these people are sociopathic and need to be muzzled and kept on a short leash. i would have more respect for them if they were honest. but instead we get, i never did that. it was the other person.
another thing that the profession misses that is so obvious is that they cry they are being taken advantage of because they earn only $250,000. that puts them in the top 1%. there is a reason that people have no sympathy for providers.
finally, they miss the most obvious fact: there are more of us than there are of them.
-- banterings
TC again!
I couldn't file my complaint with the DOJ (no working address,
Then I tried to icomplain another paper tiger, the joint commission, that doesn't evaluate individual care, & only oversees certain hospitals. Predictable.
BTW, outnumbering them doesn't matter. Do people vote to go to war? Only money talks & out health care & government reflect that.
CA Disability Rights has taken down my info & forwarded it to the legal team. Prediction: the pain clinic will declare that scribes double as chaperones (which they originally denied having) & they will say, no exceptions, & the CA Disability Rights legal team will close my case.
TC
USC Turned down my requests as did UCLA. Patient Experience said the chaperone had to view the point of contact. Again. I told her point blank that they have NO CARE FOR PATIENTS, & ARE COVERING THEIR OWN ASSES. They want it both ways. I told her it's all about the money. The power trip that comes with institutionalized sex abuse. With their history of sexual abuse & coverups,
So for all you still flowing, I think you might be correctly guessing where this is heading what will happen,.
TC here: another lesson in futility. I filed two a ADA Title 3 complaints against USC, & a the very last local pain facility around. I emailed USC patient experience with the receipt & the following links
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/06/17/brennan-heil-george-tyndall-usc-sexual-assault-campus-column/1188064001/
https://nypost.com/2018/05/21/lawsuits-accuse-usc-of-covering-up-docs-sex-abuse-for-decades/
https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2020/02/28/report-says-usc-failed-to-protect-students-from-dr-tyndalls-sexual-harassment/
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/25/health/usc-gynecologist-chaperone-responsibility/index.html
in rebuttal to the notion that chaperones do anything but lie when they have to. Self serving(as usual in all institutions)! No benefits to me!
I also emailed the DOJ Complaint receipt to the CEO of the local pain place. The disability lawyer told me they can't retaliate, but they'll find a way.
I sent a psychological harn incident report (today USC) to the joint commission that they'll just dismiss it & laugh.
Nobody will side with us against the arbitrary use of chaperone with Billions of healthcare dollars made & at stake.
The disability lawyer will gold at that notion. I won't live with this pain, I refuse to treat it at the expense of sexual abuse. . Need I quite Patrick Henry, or invoke the NH state license plate motto?
TC
Update. The CA disability Rights representative has been consulting with her supervisory lawyer, & hasn't taken in me as a client yet. However, she did advise me to file an ADA title 3 violation complaint with the DOJ, assuring me that they cannot retaliate by dismissing me as a patient.
The local pain management place in Apple Valley just did, after I forwarded the DOJ email receipt of my complaint, to the CEO informing him of my grievances. They called cancelling my appointment & referring me to my Medi-medi insurance providers for further pain care.
Naturally I informed the Disability Rights rep of the retaliation & she said she'd inform her supervisor. They will bail on me anyway, because the DOJ case is over warrantless modesty accomodations nobody else cares about (but us!)
Prediction! I told you so, no recourse.
TC
Maurice,
Here is an interesting question that I want to pose: does anyone feel that what is going on with the illegal migrants is affecting their healthcare? How about their dignity in healthcare?
The reason I bring this up is because we have seen services cut here in Philadelphia because resources are going elsewhere. Emergency rooms are packed with everything from people who need dialysis to the flu. In NYC, they closed down a school to house them.
I also hear many transgender people lamenting that they work (good jobs), but their insurance does not cover transcare and they cannot afford to pay out of pocket, yet the migrants can go to California and get it covered completely.
In Chicago, poor communities have been noticing that many community services are being cut back (including clinics). It has been debated in congress that the VA is diverting resources to migrant care.
It is hard enough for us to get dignified care (let alone those like Biker who have to drive 2 hours), but what is going to happen to availability and quality of care as the system is overloaded?
This is not meant to be a political debate, but a debate on how politics affects healthcare. I don't think that I need to provide links to the news articles that I made as they are easily found.
One last thought about this: Philadelphia had a measles outbreak a few weeks ago. There is an uptick across the US in diseases that we eradicated previously. I do not know the cause, but is there a correlation? This caused additional screening and quarantine at area hospitals that slowed things down with intake.
-- Banterings
I think everything affects everything and everybody else. I also think that we're being deliberately pitted against each other. The super rich are who deprives us more than anything else and agencies that don't have any accountability. I wonder if maybe the illegals should have their own healthcare separately but done in a more workable way. Health insurance that one size fits all. A monthly bill or weekly but covers the bills. If that could actually work then legal Americans could choose to use their healthcare. I know that there's probably a million or so laws that would make that absolutely impossible but that's because we have lawmakers that think for us since we're believed to be hopelessly stupid to vote our laws in or out. JF
Archie, You bring up some very good points. There is no dignity/respect in taking away care from citizens to give to law-breaking illegals. There is a huge and lasting danger to overwhelming services meant for citizens by giving priority to those who are breaking our laws. Seems even the govt. is breaking the law by doing this and purposely defying the laws they swore to protect. A few years back, a local hospital was overwhelmed by some of Biden's mess. They had sent a mess of people to a local army base. Many were sick so the local hospital who is not part of the 4 major chains was selected by Feds to treat these people. The local people were then displaced from going to this hospital for their treatments causing delays in their treatments and financial hardships and family burdens such as long travel times. There is no dignity in this and certainly no respect. And yes, diseases are being brought into this country because by defying the law, the border of this country is wide open except that I as a citizen must have a passport to re-enter this country which is really bizarre. I have to have ID to receive medical but illegals don't which is downright insulting. Yes, there is a direct connection between politics and yes it is political because the current administration wants to pack the country with those who might vote and keep them in power as like being a dictator. Because of this don't care abt citizens attitude of the current administration, we have vets not receiving services but we have illegals staying in first-class hotels and who also receive prompt care while vets must generally wait to even see a provider. I could go on and on but truthfully it is just so scary what is happening to this country. I often wonder if I wake up in the morning if Joe has finally sold this country to the highest bidder and I will find the CPP or Russian tanks going down our street.
TC's Update, more corruption:
Arthroscopic knee surgery cancelled, & redirected to a hospital. I'll die first!
To digress, my knee surgeon casually told me they covertly remove patient's undergarments under patient anesthesia, & I confronted Jennifer, the surgery director about it, who then adamantly denied it. Red flag: she totally freaked over finding out I live alone!
I finally got my meniscus tear surgery appointment for 02/21/24 at the surgery center in Victorville, where my orthopedist promised I could arrive, keep on, & leave wearing bodybuilding shorts.
Jennifer personally cancelled my surgery on the basis that nobody will be around to look after me 24 hours. She "redirected" me to 24 hour hospital stay elsewhere where 1) mandatory underwear removal 2) possible catheterization just for hospital expedience 3)left in bed, naked nothing but a gown in an open roomed area where anyone has access to without knocking 4) feeling totally freaked out at the loss of autonomy & hearing a slob beside me snore.
I'm a man, not helpless, & not to be undressed like a child, & handled & manipulated like a child or object. In Rochester NH in 1999, I walked into my meniscus scope surgery dressed like an athlete in Nike running shorts, had a spinal & walked out of there like a man in dignity.
I've been trying to pull some strings in having an LA real estate lawyer friend call Jennifer to guarantee someone will be here (not really, fingers crossed). Another famous 86 year old architectural acquaintance refused to lie for me, but offered to pick me up & put me in his RV
Being more of a nuisance to my PCP, I asked her to call Jennifer to let her know you can't put me in a Hospital overnight, it will kill me.
But you know, I'm sure it's too late. A redirect is a redirect. Washing their hands of me, without any acknowledgement of doing me a disservice. The calls Jennifer will get won't help. "He's got an alternative facility!", she'll l say. (No I called & blasted them for their underwear removal perversity!)
Lastly, the DOJ dismissed my cases, including the retaliation case. My CA Disability Rights folded, even though they urged & help facilitate my ADA complaints to the DOJ (cc the CEO). I was dismissed as a patient in retaliation & no recourse, & no help from CA Disability Rights. They folded
I was ill-advised by CA Disability Rights, & I was ill-advised here. I told you so! Wasn't I told repeatedly they cant retaliate? Well, if I could afford a lawyer. Now I hope you all understand how the intellectual dishonesty pushed my buttons. Never underestimate an opponent who has staff lawyers while you can't afford one yourself
Surgical underwear removal & medical chaperones are accepted medical practice that the DOJ won't challenge, won't intervene on the behalf of PTSD medical sex abuse survivors. It backfired, & in their estimation made the case in favorite of chaperones. (They'll say a chaperone should make me feel safe!)
TC
Final summation by TC
Three surgery centers that presumably don't mandate underwear removal for simple arthroscopic knee surgery
1) Surgery Center in Victorville where my orthopedist says they remove underwear under anesthesia. After my inquiries, they vehemently denied it, & ultimately retaliated by cancelling my surgery, on the basis that I don't have home 24 hour post operative care. SOL
2) Privately owned Surgery outlet in Palm Springs good modesty accomodations but the doctor with the block there refused to operate offering PT instead.
3) hospital at JT has very respectful modesty accomodations for outpatient surgery, but the one Orthapedist who operates there is an associate Orthapedist group of the Palms Springs doc who declined surgery.
My PCP strongly disagrees, asserts I need meniscus repair & am my own best physical therapist, but she won't go to bat for me by saying or writing that to any Orthapedist, where the last hope is after depleting those options.
Lastly, again, CA Disability Rights encouraged me to complain to the DOJ & Pain clinics CEO, even gaveMy PCP strongly disagrees, asserts I need meniscus repair & am my own best physical therapist, but she won't go to bat for me by saying or writing that to any Orthapedist, where my last hope is me their contact info, & PROMISED they can't retaliate by dismissing me. The day after I forwarded my DOJ receipt they cancelled my appointment, & referred me to my insurance company. They did retaliate, & CA Disability Rights won't back me. No recourse without a pro Bono lawyer
.
I told you so
TC
Just a bit of a rant: I recently had a PA indicate I needed a prostate CT scan. In scheduling this I had to speak with several offices at two different hospital networks. It seems that virtually everyone I spoke with had total access to my medical file. After speaking with two clerks I started to ask just how much of my file was available to them and in each case they had total access. Why? They gave me the usual “we’re all under HIPA, we only read what we need to help…” blah, blah. It seems that in the name of convenience we have totally given up our privacy. Is that a valid concern for me to have or do I need to just resign myself that we live in a surveillance society.
Ohio Catholic, very, very interesting experience you describe. It seems that those institutions you noted are not following the law. Here is a full and thorough description of the law:
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/laws-regulations/index.html#:
A long reading and highly detailed description by the U.S. government but I couldn't find any subsequent amendment to the law which would permit multiple hospitals where the patient has not entered to have full permanent access to the patient's records. ..Maurice.
I would say maybe those 2 hospital systems may be somehow connected or their EHR systems talk to one another. Also, many providers use the Continuity of Care protocols to get around this and most likely OCR would not find them in violation because OCR is really a bad joke. OCR cares nothing about individual privacy being violated as they only like to deal with issues garnering media attention. This is an explanation of HIPAA/Continuity of Care: https://www.hipaajournal.com/hipaa-continuity-of-care/#:~:text=In%20the%20context%20of%20continuation,being%20disclosed%20pertains%20to%20such
It is weird that I just had a conversation about this with someone who said we could not keep my husband's info from being shared. I said we had as we completely scrub the parts of the MRs we have decided are not danger from containing any identifying information. We make sure we use a completely differently hospital system and their EHR system does not talk to others as we check on this from time to time as well as pulling his MRs from that hospital system. In his file is also a signed paper on their HIPAA sheet (he did it in the signature line) that states they do not have the right to request any of MRs without his explicit, written consent. Sometimes what appears to be a separate hospital system may have a silent agreement with other systems as does several what you think are independent local hospitals. Digging deeper, you'll find their connection. Actually, one was blown open because they referred only to the larger hospital system which was being investigated.
For anyone interested, our Patient Partners on Spreaker, we talked about in our latest segment abt a nurse who was a chaperone with a female NP. They had the guy stand completely naked (even told him to take off his underwear in their presence. They talked abt him bc he was so well endowed and built. Well, anyway this nurse went on a date and the date asked his best friend and his wife for to join them for dinner. Let's just say what they see doesn't stay in the office and certainly not all bodies are viewed in a non-sexual manner. Again, so much for HIPAA and professionalism. It is amazing how they can lie straight to your face and don't understand how we don't trust them.
Hello Ohio Catholic & Dr. Bernstein,
It seems that the law is vague enough to allow any connected with the physician to have access. Please see the following that I excerpted from Dr. Bernstein's reference:
"(4) Incidental Use and Disclosure. The Privacy Rule does not require that every risk of an incidental use or disclosure of protected health information be eliminated. A use or disclosure of this information that occurs as a result of, or as "incident to," an otherwise permitted use or disclosure is permitted as long as the covered entity has adopted reasonable safeguards as required by the Privacy Rule, and the information being shared was limited to the "minimum necessary," as required by the Privacy Rule.27 See additional guidance on Incidental Uses and Disclosures.
Access and Uses. For internal uses, a covered entity must develop and implement policies and procedures that restrict access and uses of protected health information based on the specific roles of the members of their workforce. These policies and procedures must identify the persons, or classes of persons, in the workforce who need access to protected health information to carry out their duties, the categories of protected health information to which access is needed, and any conditions under which they need the information to do their jobs."
As I read the above, the doctor can deem the receptionist a person who has access because the receptionist is assisting him in his duties.
Moral to the story: Don't expect any of your health info to be private.
Take care.
Reginald
Thanks to everyone for your comments. At the urology clinic where I was seen there are no male RN/LPN/MA staff, zero. The clinic does have six doctors four of whom are male, but seeing an actual doctor is very rare. They have 17 PA/NP’s, only one is male. About the information being shared. I think you are right, it seems that every associated clinic, imaging etc. have been “granted” access since they “need” to have it. As a closing I have never spoken with a male on the phone ever! Always a female. It reminds me of an older man who once told me “Don’t say anything to a doctor you don’t want the world to know.” Now when I have an appointment, I only answer questions with the mindset, who else is going to find out and do I really want some part-time job shadow, summer help, or teen age doctor’s relative reading this?
TC again here
To be evenhanded my PCP has been great, & is going to bat for me.
I had a telehealth consult today & the first words out of her mouth were, "I feel so bad for you".
OK
Not all physicians are evil, but she can't do surgery on me.
TC
TC here
@ Reginald @ EM. or @ anyone with prior back issues:
My MRIs show bulging & herniated lumbars but NO sciatica or sacral issues, just localized lumbar sorenesx & stiffness.
At an initial spine exam, would an orthopedist expect to perform sacral reflex tests (Bulbocavernosus & anal wink) just as a matter of "routine" to dot the I's & cross the T's, even without reports of saddle anesthesia extremity weakness, or urinary/bowel incontinence
TC
Hello TC,
Since the spine is so complex, I'm sure there are many different orthopedic approaches to a determination of the source of back pain. The ortho may also be investigating referred pain which has its source elsewhere. There's no harm in asking for the reason(s) for the proposed test(s). Depending on the ortho's responses, you may accept or reject the tests, always remembering that your rejection may impede her/his correct diagnosis. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we must sometimes place ourselves in the hands of people we may or may not fully trust.
I wish you well.
Reginald
We have this kind of healthcare because we allow it. I'm as guilty as anybody but at the same time I don't know how to require fair treatment from Medicine or even my own family. A couple of months ago I allowed my nephew to know I wasn't safe with my sister that I had been staying with ( or my niece more accurately ) My oldest sister questioned. my sister I was staying with and she threatened me with bodily injury so she called me secretly and told me to pack my bags in the night and hide them in the woods. So I did it. . The next morning she picked me up at a nearby gas station. Then another nephew drove me to Ohio. A friend that I'm staying with checked my blood sugar yesterday and it read 455. But I don't have health insurance and will need help from other people to get it. I get social security disability now and because of my vision problems I can't safely drive. My brother who died last month was on social security disability also and I question in my mind if possibly he was deliberately allowed to die because of that. He was 63. I'm 64. I hope I'm not out of line talking about some of this. It doesn't have much to do with medical modesty . JF
Just a question regarding our contributor identified as JF. Are you the same person who in the past was identifying herself as a medical nurse assistant who worked in a healthcare institution and was attentive to the treatment performed by the nurses and other staff members on her patients? Are there 2 JFs? Thanks for any assistance you can provide with this matter...or on the other hand is my 93 years age affecting my
discernment? ..Maurice.
No Dr B. It's me. I haven't worked for at least a year and that was at assisted living. I'm now too old to work as a CNA and have let my license expire.And a lot of family has died recently. Four people in the last two years. My sister that I recently lived with was told she had a year to live ( she has Cancer ) It's been closer to three years since she was told she had a year. For awhile after she moved back to Florida her new doctor thought she didn't have Cancer at all but turned out the does. I know I've been quiet on this blog lately but some things I'm reluctant to talk about. Especially if it doesn't have to do with our issues that we talk about here. JF
JF, sorry to "hear" via your recent posting the emotional chaos you have been going through. I am sure that many who are reading and posting here are sympathetic with you.
I am glad that this blog thread, as with other viewers and writers, find that emotional "ventilation" may be informative to others but also possibly "therapeutic". ..Maurice.
JF,
If you are on disability, you should also be able to be on Medicaid. You need to talk to your local social security office. I don't know if Ohio has it own form of Medicaid as Indiana calls it HIP. Call your local county health office to see if they know of free or reduced rate clinics.
In the meantime, reduce your carb intake. Celery is one of the "free" foods for diabetics. There are supplements that also help but they are expensive and they take time to work. Exercise is another good way. Do something as simple as chair yoga. The next thing is hard but avoid stress and many otc medicines especially cold as they contain sugar and also mess with your blood sugar levels. While these aren't "cures", they should help you manage your numbers a little better. Also, make sure your meter is accurate as some of them give false readings. Any Lab Test is a great place to get low cost blood work done for those who do not have insurance. I also know some local, small hospitals have funds set aside to help people with different chronic illnesses such as diabetes.
I hope some of the information I gave will help you. Take care.
Thank you JR
Thanks Reginald for your straight response. . My appointment is deferred. I spoke to my PCP & she said no reason to do sacral reflexes if I do not have the symptoms of sacral SPI -- though some deny those out of embarrassment
There's another way of looking at it. I think.its a less a matter of impeding diagnosis (by declining the exam) than a matter of threatening the physicians all mighty power.
The same dynamics evost in underwear removal for a knee scope.. Even my PCP asserts that "sterilization rationalizations" are absolute bullshit, & there's NO reason why I should have to worry about intimate exposure
.if not letting me keep my own on use one if there's.
You call a facility & when they insist on underwear removal (sterility, easy catheter or tornequett application) they are adamant with no chance for dialogue & changeimg their minds using Kristy Roberts counterarguments. It's their power that's threatened & they just don't want to relinquish it. It's what makes them feel important & get off on saying no & telling a modesty patient they have NO CHOICE but to strip & expose their genitals to a team of "professionals"
I've found several facilities that leaves underwear removal to the doctor. 5-6 leads, & I bet they fall through thanks to controlling voyeuristic doctors rather than the surgery center.
TC
Hello TC,
Keep trying. I've found that ortho doctors seem to be less concerned with power play. They seem to have a "let's get the job done attitude". They're also more apt to try to accommodate you. Try for an all-male team who might be more amenable to helping you. I wish you the best.
Reginald
TC
I had lumbar surgery (laminectomy/facetectomy) to fix sciatic pain and leg numbness (no bowel issues) and the only tests I did were a MRI and a EMG. I had to look up the sacral reflex tests you mentioned because I had never heard of it. Holy Crap! I probably would have lived with my back issues if that was suggested for me.
Two days ago I had toe surgery where the end of the bone was cut off and was able to retain my underwear. During scheduling, I asked the surgical center about disrobing specifically and got kind of a patronizing response but no outright insistence on removing underwear. I decided on three outcomes: Underwear or COVR garment on, local numbing so I could be awake and monitor the process, or cancel the surgery and walk. I prepared by gluing my underwear on and when the nurse said remove everything, I was prepared to make my case that nurse scrubs were no more sterile than my underwear and would be much closer to my foot than my underwear. I said Sorry, that's not acceptable to me. She shrugged but didn't make an issue of it. I was asleep when they prepped and positioned my foot but I could easily image my gown sliding down to my waist or simply flashing the surgical team if my leg was lifted more than a few inches off the table. I stood my ground and it worked this time.
I also had a surgery canceled recently because I did not have someone who would be staying in my house with me for 24 hours. The surgery center would not budge on the issue even though the procedures don't even involve an incision (ESWL and cystoscopy). It did not matter that I have had a dozen procedures where I was sedated and not once did I have someone stay with me longer than an hour after arriving home. They suggested scheduling at a local hospital where I could spend the night. I rejected that idea because I doubted that Medicare would pay for an overnight stay for something so minor and I would most likely lose the all-male team I was promised at the surgical center.
EM
An extension of the concept "to maintain patient dignity" is the valid discussion of gross fertility fraud. A male gynecologist using his own semen to prepare an invitro fertilization of a woman patient or multiple patients, without the patient's knowledge of the semen used in the preparation was from that male gynecologist.
Here is a link for an initial detail of this subject:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility_fraud
This subject covers the issue of dignity both of the women who were fertilized by that gynecologist but also the dignity of the many children who were created by
the physician's occult behavior. Maybe as an elderly male you might not care but this is of great bioethical and legal importance and of course to the woman and here child or children. ..Maurice.
Dr. Bernstein, there have been a number of such fertility fraud cases. I wouldn't term it so much as a patient dignity matter as I would unethical immoral criminal behavior. Despicable. Such actions should result in loss of license, jail time, and hefty lawsuits.
Biker, preservation of the woman patient's dignity also the dignity of her bodily parts, from head to toes and including the bodily product of her ovaries, the ovum. Without the woman's knowledge and approval, the clinical obtaining of her bodily part (an ovum from her ovary) and then adding the gynecologist's own parts, to me is a destruction of the intrinsic dignity of the woman patient. It also, if later the fertilized ovum develops into a human being, that child's dignity, in my opinion, has been insulted by the criminal origin of its presence.
Maybe we should discuss, perhaps again, what we all think is the definition of the dignity which has been applied to the topic of this thread. ..Maurice.
O Wow. Dr B . Dr Donald Cline and his 90 plus children he conceived through artificial insemination! That case ! I sure do know what to think about it. But one thought I had was how can it be known that these people would exist at all if he hadn't used his own sperm. Who knows how that works? I have wondered about that case a LOT. I really wish those large numbers of half siblings would reach out to each other and bond as much as possible Good could very potentially come out of it. I did have a problem with Dr Cline doing a pelvic exam on his own daughter but maybe because of that there should be reunions but he not be invited. The stealing eggs would be much more problematic to me. Having kids out there with no ability to contact them or make their lives better in anyway. JF
The title of our blog thread begins with "Patient Dignity". All these years of this thread with this title was defined in my mind, erroneously, that the issue, a long term misunderstanding of the definition word "dignity" as it was involved within the "doctor or medical system professional relationship " to their patient. I misunderstood and defined that "dignity" was the property of the patient and represented the patients "needs". But now, after all these years, I recognize that the definition of "dignity" represents the requirement of professional behavior of the medical professionals with respect to their ill patient and not the erroneous definition applied vice-versa. Sick patients themselves may not be able to stick to the requirements set by the definition of the word.
So all these years, I misstated my understanding of the definition of the word and also to whom it usually applied. Even at age 93, I can learn. ..Maurice.
Dr. Bernstein,
I do not have the words to adequately condemn the behavior in the artificial insemination case. Outrageous, egregious, and immoral come to mind and the doctor should be punished severely for his actions. An "assault" on women's dignity would also be an accurate description and could fit within the bounds of this forum's discussion.
EM
I found this definition of "woman's dignity":
"In short, woman's dignity consists of three things: self-respect, respect of others and full responsibility for your own actions. Having all three, woman has dignity that provides her an automatic respect. Dignity is awareness of our amazing, unique and beautiful feminine value. We shouldn't earn it or grow it."
As you see and this definition could apply to male patients as well described above.
And further, you see, the title of our blog thread is truly misleading as we had been extending a title from the former "Patient Modesty".
Should our title to this series of blog threads be changing the title since the views expressed here all these years is truly about the patient's issues of modesty both physical and intellectual
and nothing related to the true, correct definition of the word "Dignity". In fact, having "Dignity" in the title may drive possible readers and contributors AWAY. What do you think? ..Maurice.
Dr. Bernstein, accepting the definition of dignity as self respect, respect of others, and full responsibility for our own actions, then the framing of our discussions here would shift to our dignity is intact but many who work in healthcare do not have dignity given they do not demonstrate respect for patients or take responsibility for their actions. We patients thus suffer from lack of respect.
The problem is that those who work in healthcare that do not show respect for patients or take responsibility for their actions think that they do. The vast majority are not inherently bad people w/o dignity but rather people operating on a completely different set of standards than the general public seeking healthcare. Like ships passing in the night.
It all comes down to definitions of what constitutes showing respect and what constitutes "necessary" when it comes to intimate exposure. Also whether staff gender matters, whether the staff member's comfort with the patient's exposure is more important than the patient's comfort, and whether male patients are entitled to the same degree of respect and privacy as female patients.
Biker and others here, would you then think that the title of this blog thread should be "Preserving Medical Professional Dignity (Formerly Patient Modesty)"? Are we discussing here how to change the professionals behavior toward their patients. ..Maurice.
Maybe 'Resurrecting' "Medical Professional Dignity" as it seems most are lacking any but I still think "Patient Dignity" is more appropriate as the patient's right to maintaining self-respect that is the issue. We also need to change patient's attitudes towards themselves to educate them that unnecessary exposure is actually sexual abuse. We need to educate the masses not to accept sexual abuse as part of receiving medical treatment.
Back to the name change, I doubt my title would sit well with the medical community as it would shed light on the issue of many of them not respecting their patients which they believe in their twisted way they do by delivering their version of "good/excellent" care. Many of them never understand there are consequences for their actions such as patients not getting medical treatment because they feel abused. They do not comprehend men like Jeff and my husband will delay or not even get treatment because of a prior in their minds (provider's mind) "successful" treatment left the patient with medical PTSD.
I had success this week talking with a lawmaker abt Indiana being so backwards and still allowing the medical rape of both female and male patients via unconsented for and unnecessary group pelvic/rectal exams by medical students. He said he had no idea. He said it is barbaric. I also reminded him the largest teaching hospital system in the state is opposed to changing this but he said he had taken them on before and he would again. He wanted me to send my research to him. Also, I talked to another lawmaker who has avoided him and offered him a chance on our Patient Partner show to talk about general medical issues in Indiana and he said yes. I think I will interview him abt the fentanyl crisis as during the past 3 years it has become very critical. Some get their start with medical prescriptions and are eventually cut off and then go looking for alternative pain relief. A man whose wife was in the final stages of terminal was denied pain relief which to me is cruel and unusual punishment. She was also sexually abused while she was in the hospital and he was tossed out because he tried to protect her. She was crying not from pain but from having intimate care from a man when she wanted a woman. So where is compassion? Must only be on false ads on tv or in newsprint.
We often lament here the seeming impossibility of getting the healthcare leviathan to address the issues discussed here, but we sometimes can point to small successes achieved by speaking up.
I recently had an annual dermatology visit, which I have been doing for about 7 years now. Back when I started, the protocol was that a female LPN and female scribe would observe skin exams. My objections were met with hostility by the scheduling staff and very unprofessional behavior by the 4th year Resident that I was scheduled with. I filed a complaint about the Resident's actions specifically and the protocol in general. It got a sympathetic ear by Patient Relations and I was reassigned to the Head of Dermatology.
In the next couple visits I just had to remind them upon check-in that no LPN was to be present and in doing so I did not get hostility in return. The scribe was still there and watching, but the doctor knew he had to screen me from her for the genital/rectal part. He was clearly out of his element having to think about protecting my privacy however and getting tired of that I asked to be switched to someone else. Each year since I have had a 4th year male Resident. Each has a different approach in doing the exam but for the last three visits the scribes, without me saying anything, face away from me the entire time, and I no longer have to say anything about no LPN being present.
What I don't know is how much of the change I have experienced is a universal change within the practice vs being done just for me as a result of being labeled a problem patient due to the complaint I filed. I know that my record was tagged as "prefers male provider". When I am being scheduled I don't have to ask to be scheduled with a male Resident.
Note that I have always been polite and calm with everyone involved, including in the written complaint I filed back at the beginning and with my in-person visit with Patient Relations. This is my general nature, but I also know from my corporate world experience that angry people are far less effective in solving problems. They are often humored rather than listened to, and then more readily dismissed as being the problem rather than someone trying to solve a problem.
Biker, so your advice to all patients: Never express anger to a physician or medical staff. In potentially upsetting interaction between the staff and patient, as seen by the patient, "BE AND STAY CALM AND COMMUNICATIVE TO THE PROFESSIONAL".
How about your view JR regarding "angry people are far less effective in solving problems". Do you feel that expressing anger only worsens the patient-medical professional relationship and makes it more difficult for the patient to end up with a personal clinical benefit? ..Maurice.
Dr. Bernstein, when I was in grad school getting my MBA, I think the most valuable course I took was one on interactional psychology. I don't recall the course name. It was there that I learned how to address workplace problems using the "I'm OK, You're OK, We have a problem we need to address" approach. Basically keeping the focus on the issue that needs to be addressed rather than the person you are addressing it with. The issue may be the other person's behavior but if you separate the behavior from the person themself, you have a better chance of fixing the problem. Coming at the other person in anger only serves to put them on the defensive, effectively shutting down or reducing the chance of effecting any change.
I am a calm, disciplined, and focused person by nature and as such this approach was very much in sync with my underlying personality. It served me very well in my corporate career.
The power dynamics are different in healthcare settings than in corporate settings but the principles are the same. Rather than angrily saying "You embarrassed me lifting my gown like that when all you needed was to see my abdomen", you can say "Having my genitals exposed in order to see my abdomen embarrassed me and made me feel like my privacy and dignity doesn't matter. In the future could you achieve your objective of viewing my abdomen by keeping me covered and lifting the gown from underneath a sheet?" The focus is thus kept on the protocol that was used while proposing a win-win solution rather than putting the nurse on the defensive. You want the nurse working with you on a win-win solution rather than a contest of wills that results in a win-lose scenario. The angry response might elicit an apology but the focus then is on calming an angry patient rather than looking at the protocol that caused the problem.
I am not sure what you mean by "expressing anger"? I am, by nature, direct but polite. I learned in teaching that being thoroughly explaining why, how, where, when, and who saves a lot of miscommunication. Before I would leave the classroom with my students, I would remind them how it was to be done. I actually would do this with some of the "toughest" students I would later have in ISS (In-School-Suspension). The head principal would actually come just to watch how orderly these "uncontrollable" students were. He would ask how I did it and I would tell him my simple solution of giving all the info and the consequences of not listening/following. Funny thing too is the overwhelming majority of students I had respected me because I respected them and I was direct, fair, and never yelled/showed anger at them.
In the situation that Biker is talking about, I would say, "It is not acceptable to unnecessarily expose my genitals when checking my abdomen." But then again, I would most likely never allow this to happen in the first place with the exception being I was not conscious at the time. Depending on how this medical person reacts, I might go on to ask exactly how does exposing my genitals benefit me the patient? This would signal to the medical provider that it is not the proper way to do this to me or really anyone. I am not embarrassed by the exposure but rather feel sexually violated and degraded as a person which puts their action on a different level rather than saying that their action merely offends me personally. I would never say something like "embarrassed" as that implies there is something wrong with my mental state especially since most patients will just suffer through this type of sexual abuse. Sometimes the fluff stuff works but it depends on the clientele. I know that as an adult, I don't like being pacified or being treated with a condescending attitude and I can recognize it when I see it. That's why I like the direct route. I agree that showing anger doesn't help but I also know that generally when a patient speaks up for their rights, I believe they are still labeled as being "difficult" or "confrontational"
TC here
One of my few acquaintances is a retired Real Estate lawyer. We were texting about unconsented intimate evsms. Rape of unconscious patients.
He replied with a text that infuriated me more. I will quote it verbatim
"Things were very different in the old days.
It was common for Drs to let medical students practice pelvic exams and breast exams on sedated females and rectal exams on sedated females and males.
Apparently it was common for heads of juvenile reformatories to make extra money by lending out volunteers for nursing, med and chiropractic school students to practice on, while the teachers observed. The patients weren't really "volunteers," actually, but the schools got as many patients as they needed for whatever exams the students needed to do, the reformatory directors got some extra income, the students got a field trip to the school---- a nice break from routine and often some fresh air outside----, the reformatory guards got a break from their routine and could watch if they liked, the inmates got free physicals of every sort far more often than they needed---- so except for some transient discomfort and acute embarrassment for the patients, it was win-win all around. And if some of the exams required cleansing prep enemas given by clumsy students, the attitude then was "no harm, and probably good for the patients." And if the poor patients each got a dozen or two pelvic exams or rectal exams from clumsy students, again the attitude was "so what?" If a volunteer decided they didn't really want to volunteer, there was the strap or paddle..."
Dr Bernstein may have some personal knowledge of this.
But I do not remove my language in saying that with generations of doctors practicing their craft in unconscious adults, & abusing children, they gave totally lost MORAL CREDIBILITY IN MY EYES!
Unredeemable, unforgivable like the Catholic Religion. Those not abusing are still abusers for not stopping it. . I'm unapologetic about my hate
TC.
Dr Bernstein, do you have some second or third hand knowledge of this practice?
The whole medicsl indset behind Unconsenting Intimate Exams on either defenseless anesthetized adults, or conscious defenseless reform school kids is that the intention is strictly educational, somehow nonsexual because they're not aroused. The fact that they're FORCING themselves on & into sexual parts doesn't matter. No moral compass, & it's a collective consciousness
Ithave an idea! A better way to recruit exam models for medical schools. Advertise in medical fetish web sites such a as ZityBiz. If you promise not to sedate them & keep them awake so they can enjoy it, they will pay the medical schools. Now that's win win.
My lawyer friend also informed me that nearly half the users of medical fetish sites work in the health professionals. Nearly all the moderators are real doctors & nurses.
Gives us pause when they say they're desensitized to nudity. & Professional doesn't it.?
Misty Roberts asserts that gynecologist's get aroused& lie about it. I don't know about the women, but I've had very bizarre & shocking experiences with nurses that seem pretty sexually charged
Sorry that me TC, about recruiting medical fetish sites users
First, please everyone: be sure that each and every posting is identified by your pseudonym. Don't send it to the blog thread until your comment is identified by its author.
My experience as a first and second year medical student instructor was that none of the students performed examinations of their assigned patient's genitalia or rectum but they all had experience of doing so on paid male and female "instructors" who participate in these teaching experiences as an occupation. These teachers are NOT patients. They are paid "teachers". I have observed these sessions to I know what is going on. But the these students in their first two years do not examine rectum and genitalia of their assigned history and physical patients. ..Maurice.
It's not especially difficult for me to believe it could have happened like TC's lawyer friend said. Back in the early 80s when I first worked as a nurse's aide we didn't use disposable undergarments yet and it was extremely common for the patients to be fully exposed by walking around in hospital gowns or sitting in a Gerry chair and drawling up their knees. I would put the hospital gown pants on patients who would get up and walk around but often my coworkers don't. The nurses didn't require it either JF
Maurice,
do you remember where I started advocating for the name change? I defined dignity there.
Being that I argued for the the change, let me revisit some of my points:
Dignity is my intrinsic worth as a sentient being, (ethically) being worthy of respect by the golden rule, and as a human right (as endowed on us by our Creator as we are med by Him and in His image). Note: Atheists may argue the last point, but up to that point I have made the case of human rights. Human dignity indicates the absolute inner value (MM 6:435) found in each individual in virtue of being human.
Dignity are the values I hold for myself that I respect in others and expect them to respect in me. For example; I respect that someone may be Jewish, Muslim, atheist, Buddhist, etc. I expect that others respect that I am Catholic. That does not mean that anyone is the "right religion," I simply respect the fact that you may/may not have religion.
Dignity is respectful: it does not make personal attacks. It has dialogue, respects freedom, and does not assume that it is what we know, but what we think that we know. Perception also plays into this. Saying things like "you don't have anything that we haven't seen before" ignores the patient's point of view (I can care less how the provider feels, just do the job that I am paying you to do the way that I want it done).
One of the best movies to illustrate perception is Vantage Point (2008).
I also say "that if YOU are NOT part of the solution, then YOU are part of the problem is further illustrated in the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu's quote best defines how patients should be treated: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."
In terms of patient dignity, respecting providers' dignity does not mean that we acquiesce to their demand to remove our underwear unnecessarily, but rather we (society) respect their choices in exposure as we expect them to respect ours. The power differential being a patient requires more of providers. To dismiss a patient for refusing or not coming to a solution with the patient is an assault on human dignity.
I believed that Archbishop Desmond Tutu's quote best defines how patients should be treated: "I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights."
The problem with the profession of medicine is that like the medieval guilds, they removed themselves from the oversight of society and self-regulated (which has been an absolute disaster).
It takes no compromise to give people their rights… it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.
— Harvey Milk
As a licensed professional, physicians are required to carry malpractice insurance. When the profession refuses to censure to take action against transgressions and misconduct societal systems will kick in. Actions will bring cause for defense and indemnity thus raising the malpractice insurance rates for the provider and facility.
I read how the profession glosses over what happens to us in pre-op prep and during the procedure. Perhaps the words of Gandhi best illustrates the evil and deception in this practice: "Truth never damages a cause that is just." Perhaps this is unjust.
My friend recently spoke to someone researching a book relating to this topic. That person was invited to visit this blog. This has changed (expanded I am guessing) the outline for the topic of the book.
I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.
-- Banterings
Banterings, all I can say in response is a deep personal "Thank you, Thank you".
What we all have to keep in mind is that at the time of interaction PATIENTS ARE NOT DOCTORS EVEN IF IN PROFESSION THEY ARE PHYSICIANS FOR OTHERS. And the same concept should apply to physicians when they become sick and become a physician's patient. That is why I think that "PROFESSIONAL COURTESY" for an ill physician by the attending physician is an ill conceived practice. Again, Banterings, thanks! ..Maurice.
maruice,
i disagree. the physician may know the human body better than anyone else, but nobody knows MY body better than I do.
the care of our body starts with us. our first physician is our mothers. we become our second and primary physicians ourselves. when i contract a physician for my care, they are a part of MY CARE TEAM to which i am the leader.
the type of thinking that you are espousing is paternalistic and harkens to the first ama code of ethics (1847):
§ 6. The obedience of a patient to the prescriptions of his physician should be prompt and implicit. He should never permit his own crude opinions as to their fitness, to influence his attention to them.
this thinking is the cancer on the profession of medicine.
-- banterings
Banterings, I apologize if I misinterpreted your doctor-patient, patient-doctor relationship. Just when and how should the patient's physician manage the diagnosis and treatment of his or her patient, if the patient is not already a nurse or physician? How much medical or surgical knowledge and experience should the healthcare provider assume is present or available within his or her patient? ..Maurice.
I think maybe it's something that is case by case Certain patients might harm themselves but think they're doing something that will help them medically. I'm reminded though of the statement He who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client. What I have wondered is is self lawyering too over everybody's head or is it the judges bigotry against a client who can't or won't hire a lawyer? JF
JF, a worthy comment that every reader here should consider. ..Maurice.
I will have to disagree with JF's argument "Certain patients might harm themselves but think they're doing something that will help them medically." I think many people can read, think, and decide their medical decisions for themselves. I agree there may be some who are not fully able to comprehend and those people need a trusted someone other than the medical provider to help them. I know I do not trust the medical community as a whole to make the best decision nor does my husband. We do our research and we make our own decisions. Of course, we are not able to carryout operations and such. We certainly know where our abilities end.
As for those who represent themselves, yes some cases will not end well but sometimes a person has no choice. I know several people who have lost children to medical harm and bc they cannot find a shark lawyer to represent them, they have gone pro se. Some have failed while others are still going. You have to do what you have to do.
There was an article in the Epoch Times which I think is a very good one along with the comments section. Here is a little part of that article that is titled "Doctors, Dictators, and the Medical Autocracy
A systemic problem in the culture of health care is undercutting patient well-being and the physician-patient relationship."
"A 2019 study revealed that a shared power balance between patients and health care providers was critical to active patient participation and adherence to treatment in chronic illnesses.
“Patients cannot be forced to follow a lifestyle dictated by others,” notes the study published in the International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery. “The finding suggests that adherence is facilitated by empowerment that includes competence in self-care, adaptability, and persistence in treatment.”
image-5603005
Dr. Joel Evans, founder and director of the Center for Functional Medicine. (Florida Destination Management/The Institute for Functional Medicine)
Telling people they need to “stop this or stop that” almost universally fails, Dr. Joel Evans, founder and director of the Center for Functional Medicine, told The Epoch Times. It’s more effective, he said, to find beneficial things to add to behavior such as eating more fruits and vegetables.
“By talking to patients this way, they feel more cared for, and they’re more likely to participate in the creation of a plan ... and they’re more likely to follow the plan,” Dr. Evans said. “The doctor dictator doesn’t work.”
While it can be frustrating to encounter doctors who don’t offer options or support, patients can voice concerns, ask for more resources, or find help elsewhere as Ms. Wendrick did."
What every person must know is not to accept healthcare as a command. Ultimately, the patient is the captain of the healthcare team and thus makes the final informed decision which is why I harp that true informed consent is a MUST.
I have been trying for a month now to post and it keeps saying failed to post try again later? So this is a test
I know that some on this board do not believe that politics extend into the practice of medicine. I know it does. For instance, I wonder if these doctors who say they morally oppose the nullification of Roe v. Wade because it inhibits a woman's right to control her reproductive system also fight just as vocally about hospitals (especially catholic hospitals) that deny a woman the right to control her reproductive system via sterilization? I know that many doctors will refuse to offer/perform sterilization services on young women or even women who have had their quota of babies. Some women want these services done post pregnancy delivery especially if it was a c-section. In reading articles abt doctors/med students leaving states wanting to limit abortion resources, I have not read abt any of them having an issue with this. It seems to me their "angst" is politically motivated rather than sincere. By refusing to perform sterilization services, are they not controlling a woman's reproductive rights? Would they rather kill a baby than provide services to prevent a being from being created?
It also seems that although society has changed and we recognize that females can and do commit sexual crimes, why is the medical community still clinging to having females (either alone or a female with a female chaperone) alone with a male patient. For the most part, they do not have male doctors with male chaperones with a female patient. Why are they not being "progressive" on this issue?
The medical community has been very vocal on "inclusion" etc. but still does little or nothing to promote men to fill jobs in the medical world typically thought of as being a woman's job such as medical assistants, chaperones, and really even nursing.
Isn't it (not) funny how the medical community is able to get away with being so political?
TC here.
As stated before, I don't want to live to be 90, 80 or even 70 (I'm 67) so NO CANCER SCREENING FOR ME particularly prostate & colon,and many doctors simply can't accept that even with a cancer liability waver& view me as self destructive. I've done a lot of self medical help, particularly to keep medical fingers out of my butt.
I figured out on my own that Cardura lowers blood pressure & relieves BPH urinary symptoms & had an internet doctor prescribe it initially.
I've told this story before, but it deserves repeating. A dictorial snuck in a PSA in my blood panel, & I fired her. Next, a PA documented a grace period of 6 months of Cardura prescription before outsourcing the Cardurato a urologist (I'll die first) -- even though the Cardura is primarily used for hypertension. The dymass PA was fired, & my present doctor accepts my decisions & thinks they are sound. She was shocked at how those past doctors treated me, & appalled at the present issues specialists cause me. My decisions are right for me, I am not a dictatorial patient, there are just dictatorial doctors.
Jeff. Are you posting from your phone or from a computer? I don't know anything about computers but you can take your phone into whoever sold it to you and they will fix the problem. Probably for free. JF
Where is everybody? Have all the issues relating to "Patient Dignity" been adequately displayed and discussed and accepted. Or has everyone moved on to other concerns in society which is not pertinent to the topic of this blog thread? ..Maurice.
I agree with you Sir, i posted sometime back about my concerns about the number of people who have access to my medical file. Is everyone comfortable with virtually everyone associated with their medical provider having access to their entire record? My urologist office has sent me to separate offices to have a ultrasound, CAT, a return CAT and bloodwork. Each was at a separate lab since my urologist office doesn’t have that capability. After a while I started to ask each just how much of my record they had, in each case it was the entire record. I know that doesn’t have a direct connection to “dignity” but why does each need to know my “dimensions” in terms of my scrotal ultrasound? When I asked a lot of questions the doctor commented I had a “great distrust” of the medical community in the lead in paragraph of the record, a comment that is not only not true but could taint my future contacts with a provider. I could go on but I think you get the gist. Privacy in all its facets does pertain to dignity.
Ohio Catholic, electronic medical record systems is a mixed blessing, though in my opinion more good than bad. The bad is healthcare staff have access to info they don't need. The good is healthcare staff have access to info they do need. That means they aren't reliant upon me to be able to translate for them what other doctors said or did.
I just had a 1st appt. with a specialist upon referral from my primary care. He interviewed me, did a quick exam and reviewed my records looking at various tests I have had over the past several years, and the results & doctors notes so as to understand the background. I doubt I could have even remotely been able to name the tests I have had along with their results and doctor's interpretations. Because of the ease of access that doctor was much better informed, and presumably I am better served as a result.
The downside is real as well, especially to the degree that low level staff who aren't actually providing any direct care see our info. I think for most patients it is more a matter of it being none of their business rather than them seeing deep dark secrets, though it actually being information you don't want anyone to know is a real risk for some patients. Assuming, like 80% of the population, you live in an urban/suburban area where patients can be anonymous, and also that you aren't some prominent person that garners public curiosity, it is highly unlikely that anyone with access to your information cares what is there. In most instances we're just another in a long line of patients.
Biker,
Thank you for your response. I understand where you are coming from, however, virtually all systems could be configured to have layers of access. When I worked in a relatively large jail, our system was configured so that only a certain layer of access was granted to certain people. For example, the correctional officers had no access to any portion of the medical record of inmates, the medical personnel had no access to any criminal records. Why can’t the electronic medical records system be configured the same? I agree a physician should have total access, in my case the scheduler, the person drawing blood, and the person working as a receptionist had total access to everything in my file. That was and is my point. I agree it is unlikely that anyone would remember me in particular, but I’m concerned about persons giving identifying and location information to someone else. After one surgery evaluation for a hernia I started to get robo calls from law offices about joining a class action suit concerning a medical device that was discussed. It could have been a coincidence but I doubt it. Also there is the case where medical providers are associated with research, insurance providers, and others and share the information without the knowledge of patients. I’m sure somewhere in the micro print of the mountain of paperwork we fill out there is some vague language about that but who has the time to read in detail all of the forms, especially when it is not given to you or available on their web sites before hand. Thanks again
Ohio Catholic,
There is a form you can fill out to see who has exactly seen your MRs. However, some hospitals like the catholic one who sanctioned my husband's assault wouldn't cooperate to the full extent of the law and getting a lawyer to take a case like this would not happen on contingency and the costs if you paid the fee yourself would be ridiculous. They merely said no one did anything wrong but we did have reason to worry because a relative was a social worker at that hospital and she believes she has the right to invade anyone's right to privacy. I believe most of hospitals would not admit if someone had been in your MRs without proper authorization.
Also, not all doctors need all information. We edit and only give what information we deem necessary. We have several hospital systems we use in order to keep MRs separate and more private.
However, having said the above, if you are on Medicare/Medicaid, your entire MRs can and could be sent to the insurance company. That is what happened to my husband. The hospital tried to make him diabetic. He is not and has never been but because he had had a high carb meal and because he had a heart episode which does raise your blood glucose levels, they labeled him being diabetic. They tried to give him insulin which might have killed him if not for a male nurse who noticed his readings didn't warrant insulin. So for almost 2 years he received calls wanting him to buy various diabetic products. The insurance company admitted they sold this info because "they want patients to be able to get products they need" but it is more this is a way they make extra money for selling the info and for billing the govt. more for money because the more chronic illnesses you have, the more govt. will pay them.
Yes, you are also correct that the medical systems will sell your info. His was given to several heart related institutions like cardiac cath data center. However, since he did not sign any consent form, it should not have been. They fought on this on but eventually we had it recalled which does prove our point that he was treated without consent and Indiana does have consent laws but Indiana doesn't enforce them. Watch and completely read the HIPAA forms you sign because sometimes they hid this consent in them while they also may hide in the consent to treatment form. Ask for a hard copy to be sent to you beforehand or take it home with you. Once a year, he opts out of having his information used or sold. However, insurance companies will continue to use the info as he recently rec'd info on a free hearing screening as did my mother with my name on there with hers. That had to come from Medicare for both of them via the insurance company via their doctors.
I'm TC
Observations. Since the news broke of child abuse at LA's juvenile detention centers, news is breaking out all over the country.
Rape, wherever video cameras couldn't record it it: bathrooms, & even in healthcare. What did the nursing & physician staff do? Call the police & do rape kits? No they injected them with birth control meds. No pregnancy, no DNA evidence, the status quo is kept, & sexual abuse can thrive for decades, as it it dues in hospitals, clinics OR recovery, Catholic schools, retc etc . TGE WAY SOCIETY WANTS ! It's an evil corrupt world were in.
Thomas Hobbes nailed it. People are evil & only fear of the consequences governs bad behavior. You put a detainees where cross gender guards watch them shower, shit & pee, & strip search them , sexual abuse happens.
Of course same gender pedophilia also flourishes under those insane circumstances
TC
TC here Another observation. I absolutely assert that chaperones are 100% shills for corrupt medical facilities that want their patients abused to certain degrees or levels.
Further evidence of this is that at UCLA & USC where abuse thrived, they now have stringent chaperone standards .
Lima Linda University Health does not strictly require chaperones because their history is pretty clean (except for his highly publicized psychiatrist & 3 minors)
A pain doc at LLUMC offered to honor my modesty & give me an inguinal block w/o his fellow present. But he doesn't assist his blocks with umtrasound, & blind TPIs have largely caused my present trouble.
But it's not those fabricated "false accusations" that spawned these rigid chaperones rules. It's the real stuff, & they do everything possible to sweep it under the rug.
Has there been ANY incident in which a chaperone assertively & successfully narced out an abuser?
TC
TC here
Satan's still running out healthcare & will never let go
https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2021-12-15/doctors-sexual-abuse-patients-california-reinstated-essential-california
https://www.dlawgroup.com/doctors-sexually-abused-patients-reinstated/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/02/25/doctor-abuse-idfpr/
TC
TC again,
On the subject of unconsented intimate exams, last year UCLA cancelled my inguinal pain appointment & banned me because I was so upfront & adamantly opposed to intimate area student involvement via "Patient Experience".
I started a thread in Quora & got this response from an unfortunate female named Lana, with Sistic Fibrosis who identifies herself as "gaslit" by her doctors. Copied & pasted, here's her shocking contribution.
My experience was I was told to expect 5–7 students in the OR not only observing but getting hands on experience. And by experience that included giving practice pelvic exams. I was also told not only will they be touching me they’re allowed to use an app on their phone to take photos during surgery for their notes.
I canceled the surgery. In my state it is illegal for students to give intimate exams to sedated patients. I brought the law up and they told me they can do it because they’re a teaching hospital. I brought up the state patient rights and again they said I am not allowed to deny students, observers, interns, residents, fellows, or sales representatives. But yet the state law stated even in a teaching hospital the patient can deny those mentioned."
So state laws in 31 states aren't really protecting us. Many laws wording referr to "pelvic exams" instead of intimate exams, & are so vague they give the bad guys (physicians & facilities) a lot of latitude for interpretation of their misdeeds.
Articles on UIE's also refer to a less covert, more overt technique for forcing unwanted intimate exams, is to approach the patient in beddide , alluding to his or her signed admission papers, asserting by signing they're obligated to let the students fingers into their vagina or asshole. The admission papers are vaguely worded, & no binding, but innocent patients are bullied.
In my case I asserted my California law protected patient rights to refuse students in my intimate care at UCLA & USC & similar to Lana, learned the hard way that there really is no enforceable legal protection .
In Quora, even one pollyanna told me to go to the joint commission, & of course the joint commission can't relegislate & then enforce criminal or civil law.
TC
TC here with a pointed question
Any confirmed cases of a chaperone narcing out another staff member (physician, PA NP) for sexual misconduct, & going to the licensing board after the report is internally handled & swept under the rug? (And it will be covered up! That's the corporate way!)
Another pointed question: from TC
Has there EVER been a case of sirgicLalpractice or physician sexual abuse in which the medical perpetrator "fessed up", documented his misdeed, reached out to the patient with an apology & offered financial compensation ?
(Dr Bernstein you might know?)
No. The deny, deny deny, & collaborate to fight to the end.
So much for their assertion that they want to protect their intentions are pure when hiring chaperones . No, chaperones are there to only protect the financial interests of the facility.
While I (TC) am flurrying here with posts, & not bothered by the lack of response here. (I can't believe I'm supposed to take seriously, & not call out suggestions to 'have Antifa protaesrs on my front lawn & hire homeless people to protest my clinics'. BTW, Thousands of victims at UCLA & USC complained to the Joint Commission & everywhere else & where did it get them until criminal law intervened. George Tyndall dud his dirty work all over including Kentucky & Iowa before USC. So we are talking thousands of collective victims ignore fur dwcades)
Another update: I informed this group in late January that a local Apple Valley outlet (part of chain of 4-5 pain clinics) refused my reasonable accomodation request to put the scribe behind a screen. CA Disability Rights gave me the link for an ADA DOJ complaint , gave me the clinic's CEO contact to complain to him, while assuring me I wouldn't be retaliated against. The next day the clinic called me & terminated services. Then the disability advocates didn't back me up! (They set me up)?
The DOJ dismissed the case but I did get a preliminary call from Health & Human Civil Rights Division in which she seemed to think that I was retaliated against, after I synopsized my case. (Good luck Charley in significant punitive actions, or getting compensation)
Lastly, that 50 year old Siberian Pain docmoved sideways to a bigger 8-9 facility SoCal pain clinic chain . She hung me out to dry on 12/22/23 & 01/18/24 but she handled the initial exam to cursory reflexes, strength & motor skills without giving me an unnecessary frontal urology exam, just perking at the scar WITHOUT A CHAPERONE. Unfortunately, this chain clinic I'm already familiar with. Lhey invariably have scribes present & unlikely will the doc isn't going to usurp that policy.
Lastly this chaperone issue has left me "thinking vad thoughts" & I sought counseling. In the in person intake I made an irrefutable argument against chaperones. In the ensuing followup phone visit the therapist said that in order for us to continue we have to set therapy goals. I protested, "THIS IS A DAMN CRISIS THAT MUST BE DISCUSSED because no relevant goals can be set!"
She barked back, " NO CRISIS ITS ALL ABOUT PERCEPTION, & defended facility use of chaperones for " THEIR protection". She invaladited my crisis, invalidated my intellectual, moral & spiritual essence, & invalidated, unvalidated, & invalidated some more.
I hung up & had a total meltdown. I've hinted here how I'll deal with this if I have to.. Patient Modesty is just as good a cause for martyrdom as any. The rgerapyst"'s supervisor dud her best to placate me, even offered to " put our heads together & find a lawyer". Fat chance.
The world's a crazy, hostile place & therapists are just as evil as doctors.
TC here
@Reginald tanks 4 your reply.
06/01/23 I was carted out of my trailer with a systoluc level in the 30s because I had no place to put my trailer after that June deadline when county code enforcement told me to get off my landlady's 5 acre compound. .
After my 5150 I lived in my car most of the Summer, setting a deadline of Labor Day to strike gold & find an affordably quiet & isolated place, an insurmountable task. If I didn't move into that place on 08/19/13 I wouldn't be here textng.
In regard my impend Ng knee scope & inguinal block, I had past treated those successfully, come that far so would give it an honest effort after evaluating.
My knee surgery with a suitable Orthapedist & hospital is scheduled for 03/03/24 , & if hospital pretgisteatiin doesn't ask about my solitary living arrangements, or doesn't ask for confirmation & contact info I would've jumped that second hurdle.
The inguinal pain management is different, with impending scribes present. That might be the last straw. My hatred of medical people that force unecessary intimate exposure is far greater than my survival instinct Also, residual back issues & 5th digit ULNER nerve compression @ the wrist -- (worse pain than the groin &back has cropped up.
TC,
We sympathize w/ you, but remember the delivery of medicine is implemented for those providing the service at the expense, both literally and figuratively, of those receiving the service.
The only way medicine will be changed is w/ new politicians elected to Congress. The AMA donates too much money to existing politicians in support of the status quo to expect any improvements from them.
We need a leader and a list of particulars to present to first-time politicians along w/ donations.
BJTNT
Well that makes my case that doctors are evil
You just stipulated we need legislations that protect us from the AMA (which does endorse things like UIEs). This proves my observations (& Hobbes' assertion) that there's no self regulation guided by right vs wrong) in the first place -- it must be guided through fear of consequences.
Please keep this in mind when you visit a doctor, if idealistically you desire outside protection from him (as you conceded) then he is a force to fear & loath like any criminal. He should be identified & called out as the a greedy, self-serving, manipulative, control freak he is.
The lobby system is corrupt & what's at the root of it. It won't change. Corporate "personhoid" is an insane conncept, held up by conservative State & Supreme Court's, & Citizens United made it worse. With all the corporate dollars fueling this, there is no chance of reverse it.
(To be evenhanded the American Gynecologist Association speaks out against UIEs, so there's some pushback, but not enough.
No compassion present when you look a doctor in the face & tell him you're a sex abuse victim & need modesty observed & respected, & the doctor says, "I don't care, you follow my office protocol or go elsewhere!"
Try this article on for size. It relates to us Australian sex abuse affairs but also alludes to an Atlanta doctor. Yeah, sex abuse abounds in medicine.
https://www.ajc.com/blog/investigations/why-one-country-decided-chaperones-can-stop-predatory-doctors/Mu0XGvqzcu3nhfBPw0rlwN/
Sorry that last post twas my answer (TC) to BJTNT.
AGAIN, donations will can never compete with corporate dollar, & if you need the law to step between you & your doctor, then the doctor isn't trustworthy, with or w/o legal intervention.
The bad thing about using chaperones when a doctor or medical provider has been found guilty or sexual misconduct is the mindset that it's okay for the provider to get a sexual thrill from looking so long as they don't do anything extra. It isn't true though. Jesus once said that if we just look at another person for the purpose of lusting after them we've done something wrong already..The refusing to investigate or remove offenders!?? I don't know what to say. I have to disagree that a chaperone would need to be trained to recognize sexual abuse. It's more like they're afraid of losing their income. Possibly a chaperone would need to know WHY a patient is being examined so the patients are being examined intimitly for spained ankles or sore throats. JF.
Good point JF about letting known sexual predator doctors still see patients so long as they have chaperones. Maybe they can't go too far with a chaperone present but it is pretty creepy to think Medical Boards are Ok with them so long as they just visually assault their patients. I suppose that's why female nursing & tech staff can get away with needlessly exposing male patients; they aren't physically assaulting patients so the nursing boards and licensing agencies are Ok with it.
"Biker" it's been shown that chaperones are predator enablers /facilitators. I just posted here an article about Australia doing away with chaperones for that reason.
OK we all know I'm mouthy & have no Id, & it's not just within the confines of this blog.
The evening of 01/18/24 I darn nearly committed suicide when I got final word that my Siberian pain was to leave the pain facility w/o doing the epidural we planned on. I messaged her in her social FB account to tell her she's getting paid enough to self-indulgently "malign" herself with plastic surgery while I go down in flames without treatment.
We are not connected on FB, no evidence of her accepting my message request, but this might prove to be a shoot myself in the foot ala Al Bundy (Married with Children) or George Costanza (Seinfeld).
She's over 50 now, not as super hot (as she was) & she's overcompensating with surreal silicone boob implants & tons of botox in her lips, & on her way to being as much a plastic surgery train wreck as Kim Novak.
No idea on 01/18 I'd later be scheduled with her at another clinic on 05/03. I have an initial exam w/o a chaperone invested in her, & only one other clinic left! That said, I'm sick of docs & facilities picking the deep pockets of Medicare & doing nothing.
https://www.ajc.com/blog/investigations/why-one-country-decided-chaperones-can-stop-predatory-doctors/Mu0XGvqzcu3nhfBPw0rlwN/
Here it is again , & of course the investigations concluded that Tyndall & Heaps chaperones were enablers
Please, please, please.. let's keep this blog free from Anonymous postings. Every contributor to our discussions here should identify themselves in each and every posting with their own pseudonym. Postings have the potential of becoming meaningless when the continuity is not maintained by the use of the writers unique pseudonym. Before you leave each visit, make sure that your unique pseudonym is presented. ..Maurice (and this is NOT a pseudonym)
Biker and JF,
I disagree. If a medical provider has been accused of sexual misconduct, I do believe they should not be in contact with patients especially patients in an intimate state. Yes, there is harm in them getting their thrills from "just looking". If they need a look, there is plenty of porn available either in print, video, or in person. Patients should not be sources of porn. The article TC found was one of the few ones that discussed that chaperones do not work. Chaperones are also there getting "thrills" especially since their number one duty is just to stare especially for those who are there as an escort for the disgraced medical provider. How about telling the patients that the medical provider is under investigation for sexual misconduct? Shouldn't patients have the right to know their medical provider has been accused? Yes, medical boards especially some like in California appear to be accepting of sending even convicted sexual predators back into practice as a few articles I have read pointed out.
The very nature of how the medical community operates encourages the sexual abuse/assault of patients. When there is such an imbalance of power between doctor/nurse and patient, there is bound to be sexual misconduct. Because so many patients are needlessly exposed, even some ethical/moral medical workers don't think twice about seeing something because they are used to unnecessarily naked patients. I will again state that the unnecessarily exposure/nudity of patients is at the very least sexual abuse and that anyone who participates in this happening whether they are a sexual pervert, don't know better, or whatever are guilty of sexual abuse and should be held accountable.
JR. I guess I did let chaperones off the hook in my last post. I DO believe they are part of the abuse. ESPECIALLY when female chaperones are used for male patients but it's not limited to chaperones being used on opposite sex patients. If you look over this blog before you or I used to post, different times female patients complained about a female watching their pelvic exams from the FOOT END of the examination table.And they were upset about it. My thoughts are that intimate exams should be optional. No problems created if and when a patient chooses to not be examined in that way. What else did Biker or me say that you disagree with? Was it possibly I said found guilty? JF
I have preemptively made my most trusted and long term doctors aware of my dignity needs and now I’m being ghosted by them. They were never guilty of anything that ever made me feel uncomfortable. I was warned by my Ex that this would happen. The easiest way to deal with a DIFFICULT patient is abandoned them because to them YOUR PROBLEM is not worth dealing with
TC here.
JR I'm sorry for my vituperation language in my disagreements with you. Political spectrum aside, I'm totally in agreement: perversity in medicine, sexual abuse for "overexposure" is not overstating a case,l ll as someight assert! You're spot on
Those above mentioned doctors should be in jail, not working with patients. Not nearly enough convictions & to reiterate, chaperones are accomplices, siding & abbetting, & if not getting a cheap thrill, certainly thriving on the power that comes with being party to forced exposure. Something no one except police & correctional officers can get away with, & OMO need to be called out & demonized
TC
JF,
It was when Biker said "maybe they can't go too far with a chaperone present" because they already went too far by still being able to be in the exam room with a patient and intimately examining them. Some get their kicks out of the cat and mouse game of still sexually abusing the patient thus "pulling the wool" over the eyes of the so-called chaperone. This is not even mentioning (but now I will) that most chaperones have no formal training. Most would not know sexual abuse from an ordinary intimate exam especially a MA as most have little or no formal training. The thing about these medical people who are accused of sexual misconduct is usually they don't have just one victim but many, many victims. Because of the way the system is, it takes really an act of God (not Congress because they won't act as they are mostly beholden to the medical mafia) to have a provider investigated and even more than that to have them convicted. Rarely will they be convicted of all their crimes.
JF, I do agree that any chaperone is the issue. Back 30 years ago, I told nurses who were present during OB-GYN visits to place themselves where they would not be staring at my breasts or vagina. I did it nicely and if that didn't work, I did it my other way. For being an audience member in a peep, they can pay me in cash and tips are greatly appreciated.
TC, I admit your language did turn me off but I am a firm believer that dialogue is the way to solve most issues. Even with wars, there has to be dialogue to bring it to an end unless the enemy is totally destroyed. I have encountered so many people who disagree with me about the harm being inflicted on patients by the medical mafia. I have been called just about everything bad. There's one person, Randy, on Quora whom I have quite decided if they are male or female, who gets down and dirty with those personal attacks to the point where I just recently banned him. You can't penetrate just plain stupidity. You and I do agree on the subject of patient dignity which should be something that all agree about whether they are D, R, or I. I believe that doctors, nurses, techs, or whoever violates a patient should be in jail. I also believe that any medical person who unnecessarily exposes a patient for whatever reason should also suffer consequences. I also believe that chaperones are part of the problem. Also, Cindy and I talked abt the article you found about chaperones. We always are looking for articles to talk about.
TC again herem
Jeff I also preemptively state my dignity needs (demands) in writing, it gets me preemptively banned & the only doc who's 100% behind me is my PCP, who I will never ask or let do an intimate exam because she's not a specialist who can fix it. I'm. Lucky I have so few intimate medical problems, but if I did I'd simply off myself with carbon monoxide.
I'm sorry to hear you're having physician issues too.
The back specialist I'm seeing on 04/26 is part of the same orghoclunuc that's doing my knee scope in a couple of days. I got nice modesty account my dations emailed one of the nice receptionist's to scan my HPI & synopsis , & I specified the lumbar pain is low calorie zed, no SPI worries: no sacral reflex exams, no cremasteric reflex, & no palpating of the buttocks. I read up on it & those pervs have more ways of feeling is up (palpating iliac crest, SI joints, etc . Above ten places in the buttocks area to feel up, & I made it clear. I'm wearing 3" he'd elastic banded shorts that will stay on, the shirt will come off. No feminizing gown desired, & well see what can be done.
I'll have this consult before seriously cnsidering any epidurals for my groin pain.
But yeah, you can get banned for absolutely nothing. I clearly & lucidly state my case in writing before going off on them, after I'm dismissed.
I have a HHS civil rights officer investigating one case of retaliation, but it won't go far.
JR, I think you misunderstood me. I am not saying it is OK for doctors found to have abused patients to continue seeing patients or that the presence of chaperones (without patient consent) are OK. Doctors found guilty of assaulting patients should have their licenses revoked and non-consented chaperones should be prohibited. I am saying that medical boards think it is OK for such doctors to continue seeing patients on the premise that the presence of a chaperone will keep things on the up and up; medical boards not caring if there continues to be a more subtle form of abuse going on. That not caring is what allows voyeurism to go on unchecked throughout healthcare.
Biker,
I know you didn't say it was right for them to continue to see patients but the way you said maybe they can't go too far with chaperones present was the issue I had. You did not make it clear this statement was not how you felt. Having a chaperone present doesn't add protection for the patient. I agree that patients need to give explicit consent for chaperones to be present and also they should be informed on why the chaperone needs to be present just as they should be informed if a doctor is currently under investigation. It is true that most in the medical mafia do not consider patient nudity an issue or something that patients should be concerned about until it happens to them or someone they love. I always refer back to the nurse who knew abt mass pelvic exams under anesthesia for patients but thought it wouldn't happen to her but it did after which she became angry and traumatized. However, how many years she knew this was happening, she apparently turned a blind eye.
Others--while you can control your bodily dignity while you are conscious, it is during a procedure that they may assault you. I have heard stories of where dignity requests were granted seemingly without issue only for the person to find out in reading the MRs it was violated. I believe the real issue why patients are ghosted when they make dignity requests is that most in the medical field have very fragile egos and they do like it when patients assert their basic rights such as bodily dignity requests.
TC:
Medical boards & teaching hospitals want abuse to continue, their histories of compliance : cover ups illustrate that. Suspending an occasional license is Kabuki theatre in keeping up appearances. The only thing stopping abuse is criminal law (rarely intervening because of conflicting testimonies of chaperones & such, & civil law suits -- that require just a proponderence of evidence w/o necessarily requiring a reasonable doubt
Biker, I want to point out that it is "voyeurism" on a professionalism level that malpractice insurance companies are mandating for everyone, regardless of their past documented history of abuse.
In today's corporate medicine, he inclusion of the chaperone isn't always the decision of the chaperone, or the doctor, but by the facility that will suppress ALL sexual misconduct & malpractice lawsuits legitimate or not, & at all cost. That's the corporate way.
As for voyeurism in chaperoning? Most are female, & the evidence points to an inmate lack of voyeuristic tendencies in females (compared to males). Some exception. But I tend to agree that once girlhood curiosity about boys anatomy is satisfied, females aren't too terribly aroused by just looking. I agree with their assertion that they're desensitized enough so they're mostly stoic.
If I could have a chaperone forced on me who will get cheap thrills, at least I'd have some consolation in feeling some level of empowerment.
That isn't to say that chaperones don't feel empowered themselves with being party to forced, unecessary exposure in male patients, but it's entirely their role in disempowering male patients that's the adrenaline rush, the power trip, what makes them feel important.
TC
Yes, women do enjoy looking at naked men hence the advent of Playgirl Magazine. Also, found this article interesting: "Study Finds That Women Like Looking At Naked ...
AskMen
https://www.askmen.com › news › dating › study-finds-t...
Sep 15, 2016 — An experiment at Cardiff University found that straight women were just as happy looking at naked women as naked men. The researchers suggest ..."
Never be mistaken women do look at men sexually but just because they are not committing acts of penetration like the male medical workers do does not mean there is not anything sexual happening. So many male medical workers get their jollies at taking pics of the naked patient. Some will "just" while others will actually penetrate in some manner. All is sexual assault. My husband was actually touched as demonstrated how to wash him like she would a baby to the laughing crowd as she, too, was laughing. This was sexual assault. Was she attracted to him? Probably not but it certainly gave her some type of high that her taking of Mollys required. Sexual desires/gratification can take many forms. If there wasn't anything sexual involved, there would be no need for the forced nudity of patients.
Women do tend to examine naked bodies closer. To believe that in this day and age that women don't have sexual thoughts is simply ridiculous. For instance, male singers generally don't come out in revealing clothing. They mostly rely on their singing talents but if you look at female singers, they wear revealing clothing to hook their audience. Not only are they selling sex but there is a connected feeling of power and control which in turn feds a gratification that is also sexual. Women in the medical field have been documented taking pics or peeks of men. This is a combination of not only having power and control over the man but it also gives a feeling of sexual gratification which is much like a rapist. I doubt if a 20 yr old man who rapes a 85 yr old ordinary woman is lusting after her but the act of rape gives him a feeling of power and control which is akin to sexual gratification. It is not the woman herself that turns him on but the rush of power and control which is the same for female medical workers. Power and control is a very strong aphrodisiac which is why we see many, many people in positions of power and control in sex scandals.
Also, please remember the story of the NP and RN who made a man strip naked because he looked really good. They labeled him and talked about his physical features. The RN even congratulated the wife on how well endowed the husband was. Just because their facial expressions remain stoic does not mean anything as I doubt in the surgeon who took pics and slapped bare butts was drooling during the assaults. I doubt if even Nassar's expression betrayed what he was doing. Medical people are trained to hide their expressions. You really have to look to see the truth and even then, you still miss it. I know I did when they decided to harm my husband.
I a half hour away from my knee scope & I'm sitting right In front of the patient rights poster. Remember when there included Privacy & Dignity? No dignity, but reads that personal privacy is respected, & visitors leave during exams & treatments. Curtains drawn I semi private rooms wtc. And of course Hipoa privacy.. that said, I'm here in bodybuilding shorts that will stay on, so can't complain
Oh -oh, that was TC about dignity & privacy. (MB just as it to the bottom
JR is right. Healthcare staff maintaining a proper gameface does not mean they aren't enjoying the view or the associated power imbalance. Healthcare staff mastering the ability to maintain that gameface is no different than most guys mastering their "manning up" gameface that can convincingly hide their embarrassment. To betray their embarrassment to the healthcare staff would only make it worse, thus pretending not to be embarrassed is a face saver. Not betraying it also serves to retain some semblance of power in the dynamic. Just as few women are Playboy material, few guys are Playgirl material. Needlessly exposing a patient simply because they can get away with it thus certainly can play into the thrills that can come from the associated power.
Although i work on the lab side of healthcare, i didnt always. I did my phleb internship on the floors and in the ER. As a 20something kid and as of now a 55 yr old woman. I MOST CERTAINLY LOOK. I see a guy fully clothed and i wonder what he would look like naked. Whar t he would be like in bed. As everyone always says im married not dead. If women didn't like to look Chippendales wouldn't be 45 yrs old. You CAN see thousands but it will NEVER be an elbow. They claim its not sexual. The penis has 2 functions. To urinate ( which is a kink/fetish to some) and as the sexual organ. I can and do have sexual thoughts about others and than go home and kiss my husband and tell him hes the greatest. Thats what humans do. Nothing turns these thoughts off. The ONLY thing the staff gets desensitized to is caring about another perdons feelings and not their own. Im tired of the questions are you embarrassed of seeing someone else naked. My mother brother father etc etc yes. Some stranger!!!! Nope, esp if im clothed. You see more women naked in public with the size bikinis they wear or other clothes wanting guys attention, then you see men. Cat
Cat,
Well said. You notice it is mostly men who state that women do not have sexual feeling? I really don't know why men cannot or maybe don't want to recognize that women have sexual feelings and they are quite capable of acting on them? It really mystifies me. I guess many don't want to acknowledge that the nurse or young MA really is looking, judging, or whatever.
I know years ago when I was thinking about blowinf off college and becoming a x-ray tech, I was invited to spend a day in the hospital. I remember when exam was for the lower GI and it was an old man. They stripped the gown off him because he kept getting tangled up in it because he was really what I call "feeble". I felt so bad because they really didn't care about him as a person and that I accidently saw him. That moment decided for me that career wasn't for me and I continued on in college. I knew then that what I saw them do was wrong. I also saw the ultrasound of a pregnant woman and they made sure to keep her pubic area covered. Such a difference in treatment.
Part of the issue, is what you said. They are clothed and they have no issue with the naked being unnecessarily naked. It gives them power and control. It is why captors strip their captives because this gives them the upperhand. Power and control does give some people the same rush/thrill as the actual act of sex. What so many do not want to acknowledge is that women have perfected getting this high/rush so therefore they do not have to physically touch a male whereas males seem to be more touchy to get their thrills. Men are sadly mistaken if think women are not sexually judging them.
To re-emphasize a law within the United States to prevent all parts of a patient's body being examined without the approval of the patient:
https://www.thehastingscenter.org/news/new-federal-ruling-informed-by-hastings-center-report-findings-on-intimate-exams
The U.S. law supports the concerns expressed on this blog topic and for the medical profession to do otherwise is unlawful.
Here is a section of the article:
A new ruling by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that requires teaching hospitals to get written consent from patients before undergoing intimate medical exams was informed by findings published in the Hastings Center Report.
The findings came from the first national survey on the frequency and demographics of the practice of doing pelvic and prostate exams on patients who were not asked for consent. Based on their survey results, the Hastings Center Report authors estimated that 3.6 million U.S. residents may have received an unconsented intimate exam within the previous five years. This number may be a conservative estimate since most unconsented intimate exams are believed to occur while patients are anesthetized, without their knowledge. The practice was found to be equally prevalent among males and female patients, but it occurred nearly four times as often in Black patients as white patients.
“Ethically and legally, patients have the right not to have their bodies touched without their express prior permission unless doing so is required by a medical emergency that threatens their welfare while they are incapacitated and they are not expected to (re)gain capacity in time to give informed consent,” the authors wrote, adding that unconsented intimate exams “violate this widely recognized right.” ..Maurice.
TC here
Good luck enforcing it, without actual arrests! They can still refuse surgery to those not signing away their rights, the same way they can make us sign away our rights to sue for malpractice & accept arbitration , or not get treatment. HHS Civil Rights opened up a retaliation case against me against a pain climic . Nothing good will come about it. They are a paper tiger, just like the ADA
CAT & JR, it's not an "all or nothing" question of sexual vs unsexual in women, it's a matter of the extent to which women are "voyeuristic" in comparison to men, & are more geared to being in the exhibitionist's role. (Which you allude to in women wearing skimpy bikinis in public). On Bill Mahrs' show, Lisa Kudrow once said said when women go out and scream at men at strip joints, they're not all that serious --like men at a strip joints with newspapers in their laps! It's just a girl's night out.
I distinctly remember a Seinfeld episode in which Elaine tells Jerry that male nudity is "bad naked", as a nude women's body is a work of art, whereas men's bodies are more utilitarian, made for getting around, like a Jeep. Just a sitcom but funny because it resonates.
Playgirll went belly up. Women don't spend much on porno (always exceptions) & bluntly, I assert that its an accepted perception that nen are far more hardwired visually, which isn't to say women aren't visual, but they are far more geared to exhibitionism -- being admired rather than admiring. (They sure admire power, money & position!).
I have no scientific sociological evidence to back this up. But it's mostly male gynecologists doing the worst damage. Twana L Sparks was motivated by a misandrist, rage triggered by her perceptions of sexism in medical school. It was 100% mocking.
But Cat. I am telling all here bluntly that this upcoming US guided inguinal block I want, will be the last time I expose myself to medical people (that I hate!) One & done, or I'm done. If it's successful, but another intimate problem arises, such as more prostate growth necessitating another transabdominal bladder/prostate unteasound, & feminizing DHT blockers or surgery. I'm done! Furthermore, I am not going to win this final upcoming chapter chaperone battle in pain clinics. So your words encourage me, as an ER worker who secretly undressed men in her mind. Maybe I can have some consolation in believing I'm giving a cheap thrill to the scribe. Still no fun for me facing a hypodermic needle full of kenalog & marcane!
TC
TC here. Well yesterday had my knee scoped almost in 100% on my terms. Wearing athletic shorts (not underwear) & under a spinal. The anesthesiologist was happy not to use a sedative, though under the spinal though my heart rate dropped to 36 BPM & he had to add drugs to counteract it. I would up naseays & dry heaves for hours after. That said it was good!
My only request not honored was bilateral, because the Ortho insisted I have one good knee.
In spite of the extreme amount of miniscus lost to tear removal, I have enough articular cartilage such that a gel injection will work
.
As for "one good knee" my pain today 04/04 the day after, is less than the pain on 04/02 the day before. I do not need crotches & I still think the Ortho fod me a disservice by not getting both over with. I'm not taking any of the Norco prescribed -- as I predicted. I even made it home alone in the privacy of my trailer & didn't fall & hit my head. No reason for two facilities to try to hold me overnight
I am very in tune with my own body & the only one who gets that is my PCP.
TC
TC again, written consent will mean no surgery if they refuse it. No teeth no basis for optimism!
TC
TC,
Of course, I don't believe Sparks did not do what she did because she liked to look at men bc she is gay. I do believe she has a deep dislike maybe hate for men. What better victim than a sedated male patient? As for this Lisa person who I assume is an actress, yes women don't have to take newspapers to cover what they are doing but they do get a sexual rush just the same. Generally women and men achieve their sexual rush differently which is why in the medical setting male perverts are usually touchers while female get off on the power trip. However, both seem to like to take photos if possible. As for Seinfeld, I wonder if Elaine's words were written by a man or a woman. If male nudity was bad then you would not have some of the more famous male actors willing to strip for movies. I really think there is a deep misunderstanding in the male world of women's sexual desires because men appear to believe that because women don't have an obvious physical reaction that men have then their sexual desire is less or non-existent. As for Jeeps, I love looking at Jeeps. I am seriously thinking abt getting one be a Wrangler or a Gladiator. Why a Jeep? Because it will be useful for what I want but still looks good and it is easy to dress up but not in a girlie way.
I believe that women in the medical field get their sexual thrills with the power and control they have over male patients. It is one of the few areas where a woman can be completely dominate over a man because in most medical encounters, the male patient is either made to be submissive by drugs or just flat out intimidated by the medical setting itself.
After my husband was assaulted, I did a lot of research. I found this story: https://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/nurse-patient-sex-lawsuit-785643 which is very similar to what happened to my husband. If you read the story, you will find the nurse believed she "did no patient harm". Was this bc the male patient was sedated or she simply doesn't believe that a patient has bodily autonomy while in the facility. I think a lot of nurses believe the same. So if they exposed a male patient, no big deal. However, it is a different story when a female patient is exposed.
You take the story of man who was on here for a short time from the Northwest who was exposed with his wife present in order for some of the women to play an initiation trick on a new female co-worker. They knew exactly what they were doing by sexually abusing that man and his wife.
Being female, I believe that females in the healthcare setting are more sexually dangerous than their male counterparts. I believe women are more cold and calculating in their quest for sexual gratification whereas men are just seeking surface gratification. Of course, both are harmful to the victim but patient safety is of no consequence which brings to mind if they skip on other patient safety aspects. We as women expect men to have sexual feelings but so many don't believe that female healthcare workers have sexual feelings. Maybe they have a better game face and/or maybe their actions are more covert? Certainly, it helps that most people are programmed from an early age not to question a healthcare worker and that we expect to have to undressed even when it is not necessary. I know most men I argue with on Quora still believe that unnecessary nudity is necessary. Some say in the OR they have to have quick access which is a myth that a garment like COVR would impede the staff. Some say it is making something out of nothing bc we all have the same except when I say would you and your wife go to a nudist colony than it becomes hostile. I also find it strange that women who demand more private intimate care do not care if their husbands do not receive the same. So strange!
Thanks for enlightening me JR!
The writer of the Seinfeld episode could either have been Carol Liefer or Larry David.
If I can't empower myself by preemptively eliminatin& getting chaperones for my inguinal scar pain treatment , then maybe by slipping into a medical fetish mode Icannattain a sense of empowerment. (I do have a steak of exhibitionist in me.)
But I cannot allow myself to be disempowered, as a paying consumer. I can't. Thats what has ne suicidal over this.
Tac here Sorry Maurice for not identifying myself in that reply to JR. I use an androidnit a laptop & the comments always scroll up to the top, & make replying an ordeal. It was me of course writing about seinfeld etc. It would also help if Google allowed me to sign in & comment. One or the other but not both. This blog needs a competent webmaster
Also in response to JR. We are far more bothered by dignity infringements than others. These people not caring about unecessary exposure are the type of people who will kick back in a sauna or hot tub, & there are many of those. Quora, BTW, is one site where you do find lots of complaints & anecdotes about dignity issues.
Reddit has too many scribeson that site who have no problem doubling in the role of chaperonem I can't even get myself kicked off reddit by name calling. Can't delete it, & marking notifications as spam doesn't stop notifications!
Scribes make me fighting mad. If I can't expell them in my next visit, I'm going to leave them shaking in their boots, & will bust up the office & spit on their laptops & shoes. Essentially threaten them.
Dr B. I recently looked at volumes 127 and 128 looking for an old post I made for a time reference. My posts has been deleted. Occasionally I saw somebody answering something that I had said. What's that about, JF
JF, on scanning back through volume 127, as an example, I find and read numerous postings written by JF and later responded to by another poster. I am not sure what is your possible technical problem. Can others here support my observations regarding JF's concerns? ..Maurice.
I hope a large number of you saw that amazing eclipse! JF
JF, as you and all the others here can see is that there are some events in Mother Nature that happen regardless of the professional's or individual's powers of dignity that can happen and be able to be potentially experienced by themselves or others. ..Maurice.
JF, yes it was amazing. I live in a 99% zone but we went to a friend's place in the center of the 100% zone. There is no comparison between the two. In a 99% zone, using those glasses you can see the sun almost entirely covered which is neat, but you still have to keep the glasses on. Where we were for the entire 3.5 minutes of totality, you could take the glasses off and look at the sun directly with just the corona showing. What surprised me was that it wasn't midnight kind of dark but rather sunset with just the early stars being visible. The temp dropped quickly (still snow on the ground here) as it does at night.
In an attempt to make some connection to the topic of this forum, sometimes at least Mother Nature treats us all equally. Rich, poor, male, female, young, old..... we all got the same show.
BEGINNING RIGHT NOW, LET'S MOVE ON TO VOLUME 130 OF PRESERVING PATIENT DIGNITY. HERE IS THE LINK:
https://bioethicsdiscussion.blogspot.com/2024/04/preserving-patient-dignity-formally.html
NO FURTHER POSTINGS WILL BE PUBLISHED ON VOLUME 129
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