Comments on: Screen me or I’ll sue

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 15:03:00 +0000

I was about to give you my phoe number, until I read the last sentence. Good luck!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 04:49:00 +0000

A year ago I would have agreed with all of you; I come from a family of physicians and personally hold four advanced degrees. (No, I am not a lawyer.) I have patients of my own and am forever wary of some kind of litigation. Doctors are honest, hardworking, honorable, and skilled, right? Hah! I recently read my own records after complications from a two-year-old missed fracture. My “medical history” had been recorded so inaccurately it is little wonder my injury was dismissed as trivial (and I was chalked off as a “whiner”). I have since sought medical care — not recourse — elsewhere, but no doctor will treat me. I have good insurance, and I’d be willing to pay cash if it would save my leg. I’ll never trust another doctor. Never.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:02:00 +0000

CA -125 is a test for peritoneal irritation, NOT Ovarian cancer. That is what I tell the patient. I almost never use it in premenopausal women as the false positive rate is almost 35%. I agree it has little use as an asymptomatic screening tool unlike the pap test or mamogram. Screening tests need to have very low false positive rate to be clinically usefull when the incedence of the diseases you are looking for are so low. The patient can sue! I would tell her why it makes no sense , educate her and then send her on her way out of the office and the practice! I don’t practice medicine on people who threaten me( unless I am forced to by ER call)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Feb 2005 19:07:00 +0000

OTOH, most cases of ovarian cancer are initally misdiagnosed – including mine, at age 40.

By: drcushing

drcushing — Wed, 11 Aug 2004 22:41:00 +0000

This is a problem that begins with the Web. People think that reading some un-vetted posting or Web page gives them the same knowledge as four years of medical school, three to eight years of residency and many years of practice experience. The concept of patient-directed health care has been bandied about as a solution to our health care expense problem. If this is an example, we are in trouble.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 05:11:00 +0000

This is a problem that’s going to continue. I also seen that article another poster mentioned about demanding tests from your physician. There are message and support boards all over the web that advocate that very thing. If someone has a 1 day stomachache and comes online to seek advise from a support board, 4-5 people are going to advise them to demand a colonoscopy. Maybe even a colonoscopy and an EGD..”Better rule out everything first before giving the pepto a chance to work.” Its crazy and out of hand!

By: ReploglePlasticSurgery

ReploglePlasticSurgery — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 04:36:00 +0000

Amazing.
I just finished writing in the comments about the PSA screening malpractice case and returned to the main comments. I was writing something about how our best and brightest are no longer going to medical school…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 04:28:00 +0000

I might have an explanation for this woman’s behavior. I believe it was on MSN health’s website last month where they were discussing what you should expect from your doctor. It advised people to demand tests even if a physician saw no reason to do so, and if the doctor still refused, to demand a note be put in the patient’s file noting the doctor’s so-called negligence. I wish I had kept the article, because it basically encourages patients to bully doctors as well as regard them like a sales clerk rather than a trained professional. The nerve of some people, if only litigious behavior caused a terminal disease maybe we’d all be better off. I am a college student who dropped my pre-med major because I dread having to deal with some of the malpractice nightmares I read about.

By: ReploglePlasticSurgery

ReploglePlasticSurgery — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 04:15:00 +0000

HelenKrausMDSC has it correct. If after the long discussion regarding the risks and benefits of screening you told her how much the test costs and she would have to pay for it in advance, you wouldn’t have much of a problem. As for the threat of a lawsuit, the patient’s care isn’t acute or even medically necessary. I would inform her that you are not able to provide care for her. No need to say, “go ahead and sue”. Just tell her she’ll have to go to someone else who might agree with her. I do it in plastic surgery all the time.

By: HELENKRAUSMDSC

HELENKRAUSMDSC — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 01:25:00 +0000

The appropriate response should be “Ms. Smith, it is your right to request the test. But understand, your insurance probably will not pay for it.” I wonder if she would be willing to pay out of pocket for tests.