Have you ever had to fire a medical professional?

[bliss_eternal]

I LOVE the staff at my dentist's office--the assistants, the receptionist, the office manager and the dental hygienist. The dentist--not so much. I like him, he's a nice enough guy--but I'm just not happy with his dentistry.

I've had a couple of snafus in terms of his work in the past. In that he isn't particularly thorough or meticulous in his work, which caused problems for me later (pain and eventually damage to a vital tooth).

Several months ago, I had a mystery sore in my mouth, for several weeks that did not go away. :scared: I asked the dentist about it, and he wasn't concerned about it at all, and couldn't tell me what it was. :wtf: Excuse me, isn't this what he went to school for?

I asked our oral surgeon to take a look at it. He didn't think it was serious, but he offered to immediately remove it and have a biopsy test done--which made me feel much better. Thankfully it was negative. :bounce:

Today I saw a new dentist for a consultation. She seemed nice enough, but I feel badly leaving the guy I've been seeing. I will miss his staff. :cry:

Have you ever fired a medical professional for similiar reasons? Or why? How did you do it? Did you just quietly go away or did you tell them you were going and why?

Bliss

[Crazy Guggenheim]

1. Just leave.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. I left a dental professional that was a friend and a neighbor

because it turned out that he had not put the epoxy or whatever on my kids back molars that he had charged me for. And, his staff sucked. I should have sued his ass into next year.

[bliss_eternal]

20. Totally!

Some dentists, sadly are infamous for charging for unnecessary procedures or things they didn't even do. It's so hard (it seems) to find one you can trust. It sucks you couldn't even trust your friend/neighbor. :grr:

I see why you wanted to sue him.

[jmm]

3. I have a number of times

I know if I don't feel comfortable around a doctor or dentist I won't be honest with them of see them as often as I should. If it's over a small issue I'd just quietly go away. What your dentist did however would be a major problem for me and if I were you I'd tell him why you're leaving him.

[bliss_eternal]

21. I agree and feel I 'should' say something to him...

sadly, I doubt it would make a damn bit of difference. He'd probably just resort to blaming me or saying 'I' was a 'difficult' patient or something...

[Wickerman]

4. I'd say every professional makes a mistake or two

that he made one on you and then was indifferent to your pain at yet anohter means its time to go. Sucks about the staff, though. He's lucky to have such a good crew.

[bliss_eternal]

19. Thanks! It's true--his crew are wonderful. I almost left

another time. I wasn't feeling well, and cancelled an appnt. last minute. I am asthmatic and at that time, frequently got migraines.

Anway, I cancelled and apparently he was in a bad mood that day (other cancellations or something-so he took it out on me). So he had the receptionist call me to ask me to come in anyway as he had blocked out time, blah, blah, would have to charge me for the cancellation, blah, blah. I told them to do what they had to do (again, wasn't feeling well AT ALL). :nopity:

I think I went in anyway, (dh drove me) and I was REALLY pissed. When I got there, I saw he was having a VERY bad day and just wrote it off (plus that, his staff apologized profuselysaid they didn't want to lose us as patients, etc). So I gave another chance...my bad. :banghead:

Funny--now when I look back at things.

:think:

[Droopy]

5. Yup

Fired a psychiatrist one time. I didn't say anything to him. I just stopped meeting with him. That was one of the worst mistakes of my life because I didn't go to a different psychiatrist. I didn't realize that I had other options. I thought I was just stuck with the treatment I was getting.

[bliss_eternal]

17. I'm sorry to hear this.

I hope that you are feeling better now...

:hug:

Thank you for weighing in my issue, I appreciate your input.

[blondeatlast]

6. I have, and there's nothing wrong with it.

I have a chronic disease and am under care of several doctors. I recently left one I'd seen for years WHO SAVED MY LIFE, quite literally.

While I was enormously grateful for this, I left because my time meant absolutely nothing to him.

I recently saw him in the hospital, we exchanged pleasantries, he knew I was under another cardios care, and that was it.

No worries. Do what you need to do.

[bliss_eternal]

16. I'm sorry to hear that you have a chronic condition...

I appreciate your candor. Is your situation stable at this time? I hope so :hug:

My dh said exactly as you did--I have to do what's best for me and my health. I don't feel that if I had a pressing (or dangerous) issue he would recognize it in a million years or treat it, if he did.

[goodboy]

7. I'm about to fire my independant, self-employed, street pharmaceutical

representative...


if he doesn't get here soon

;)

[bliss_eternal]

15. Daaaaaa-yum!

Did they make it?

;)

[goodboy]

23. ironically...at 420 in the AM...(nt)

[tibbir]

8. I left an internist that I really liked.

But his staff absolutely sucked. If I called with something that really needed immediate attention (at least in my estimation) they would never work me into their schedule. I had to wait a week or more to see him. Adding insult to injury they messed up in their billing and decided I owed $150 - and told me to settle up before coming back. :wtf:

I asked around and got the name of a new doctor. I went to see him and he was pretty cool. After that I just stopped going to my first doctor.

Change is good.

[bliss_eternal]

14. You're right, change is good. It's just hard sometimes.

We get in our ruts, etc. I think this situation is forcing me out of mine.

[Dr.Phool]

9. I fired a dentist and a doctor

I had a really good relationship with my dentist, until he got hooked on Amway, and tried to recruit me. I let that slide. But one day i went in for an appointment, and he said I had a $50 copay that was mandated by state law. I'd worked all night, wasn't thinking and I paid it. On my ride home, I'm thinking, "I've already copaid $5,000 on this bill! What the fuck is he talking about?

I called him from my cell-phone on the ride home, and asked him about it. He didn't argue, just said he'd refund the money. The relationship deteriorated from there.

With the doctor, I went through 3 different insurance companies within a year. Every time i switched, she ordered up a whole bunch of tests. On my last test she performed an echocardiogram, "because something sounded funny". I had a $500 deductible, and the test was $850. A week later I found out i could get that test, and 3 others for $350 at another clinic. Fuck her!

[bliss_eternal]

13. Amway?! He tried to sell that shit to his patients?

What a tard! :silly:

I can see why you left the other clinic. It's so sad that some people just try to milk insurance for everything they can get.

[davsand]

10. I fired my OB/GYN.

I went to a group practice and asked for a specific Doc. I was never allowed to see her, I always got shuffled off to this other woman Doc that was just a B***h. Finally, one day I asked why I was never allowed to see my doc and was told that the B***h WAS my Doc.

When I asked WHY and how this had happened, I was told I'd been assigned to the B***h because I was a "difficult" patient--that I asked too many questions.

I blew up. And walked out of the clinic.

I found a new Doc a couple of days later and called the clinic to say I was coming in to collect all my records to take to the new Doc. They said they'd send them over to the new Doc. I said, "No, I am coming over, I want a copy of my records."

I got to the clinic and the B***h doc comes out and says, "WHO is your new Doc?" I get even more pissed off and tell her it is not her business because she was fired. SHE gets up in my face and tells me how "complicated" my case is and I have no idea what I am doing by switching docs...

I finally got my records from that clinic, and I got home and went thru them page by page. They were chock full of notes about how argumentative I was and how I had no respect for the doctor's authority!!! They also showed that that clinic had run a full drug screen on me along with an HIV screening--without my knowledge or consent.

AS I was reading this, I got a phone call from that f###ing woman doc, and she is still arguing with me about me leaving her care. I actually told her to get screwed and I hung up on her.

I have told EVERY woman I know NOT to go to that doc. My next Doc was fantastic and I still tell pregnant women to go see him...

Laura

[bliss_eternal]

12. OMG! This clinic and that doctor sound so PSYCHO!

:freak:
She had no right questioning your choice to leave there! I hate people that try to bully others with their presumed 'authority.'

Thank you for sharing this...I admittedly cracked up during parts of your story. Sorry, you ARE funny though. I'm glad to hear that you left that horrible place!

[CanuckAmok]

11. Just once, from a cannon.

Why do you ask?

[AuntieM1957]

18. That's Odd

I thought misogynists were the root of all evil.

[CanuckAmok]

25. When I meet one, I'll ask him.

n/t

[carpetbagger]

22. My family and I have fired a bunch of 'em. And I'm a doctor.

Let's see, there's the string of dentists who wouldn't do a simple cleaning without hundreds of dollars of "routine treatments" that would cost hundreds of dollars uncovered by insurance.

There's the OB-GYN who wouldn't honestly answer a question about a certain type of birth control on the evangelical hitlist.

There's the pediatrician who told us that I should steal a relatively cheap and routine piece of medical equipment from my federal workplace I needed for my child because "everyone does it".

There's the internist who had the standard bungling staff, who basically made up lab results instead of looking at the labs, resulting in having an unnecessary, chronic medication started. We fired them when the doc decided to cover for his staff and yell at us instead of fessing up to his or his staff's mistake.

The funny thing is that we're pretty easy to please: we'll wait for hours, we don't expect brilliance, we can handle rude staff, and we generally try to correct mistakes. Hell, I've even offered to have my infant discharged at 3AM (she was in for tests that ended at that time and was to be sent home in the morning) to open a bed for a kid in the ER.

[bliss_eternal]

24. I really appreciate hearing from you on this matter.

It's refreshing to hear a member of the medical profession acknowledge that sometimes people leave you little choice, but to fire them.

These stories about the ob/gyn's that are being influenced by the right are really scary to me! I'm grateful I haven't encountered this but enraged that ANY woman is experiencing this crap in 2005!
:grr: They needed to be FIRED.