Pete I can certainly empathize with you about
doctors who have a superiority complex and/or who like to tell their patients to disregard the instructions of another doctor and do it "their way".
I had a doctor, GI specialist, one time while I was in the hospital who would intentionally make his rounds at 7 or 8 pm just so he could get the last word in and start changing the orders of the other doctors, who would then change the orders back when they came in for visits the next day. The other two doctors, a surgeon and my PCP at the time, worked together to come up with a treatment plan but this GI seemed to think he was too good for that.
The final straw came when I was on my last night of admitttance to the hospital and slated to go home at noon the next day, assuming I could keep the food down. I had finally been allowed solid food and was enjoying a late supper when the GI came in and took my food away saying he wanted to do an upper an lower GI in the morning which was the first I or anyone else heard about
it. When questioned about
the need to do the tests and why they couldn't have been done during the week and a half I had spent there under NPO he got so mad he turned red, and all he would say is that he was a doctor and knew what was best. He even got madder when I ordered him out of my room and said that he was fired and was to have nothing to do with my case again. He told me I couldn't do that and I picked up the patient's "bill of rights" that I had been given when admitted which said I had a right to refuse treatments of any kind and that I had the right to determine who was part of my care team. When he actually called me stupid I told him that he had 1 second to leave by the door before I got up and assisted him out through the 4th floor window. As soon as he left I buzzed the nurse to tell her what happened and to have it charted that this butt head was not part of the care team.
When I was done talking to my nurse she said she overheard most all of it and made the comment it was about
time someone put that doctor in his place. The rest of my stay there I was treated as some kind of hero by the nursing staff. In a way it was kind of funny.
The other doctor I had a run in with was the first endocrinologist I was hooked up with after my PCP couldn't figure out why my diabetes was so out of wack. This endo spent the entire appointment complaining about
what other doctors had done with this that or some other thing in regards to me and called me an idiot for what amounted to following doctor's orders. On the way out of the office I was suppose to make a followup appointment and when I didn't stop at the desk as expected the receptionist stopped me and said I had to make an appointment. I told her if I came back to see that jerk I would end up making him 6 inches shorter than he already was and walked out. This was several years ago.
Last year when I had to go see a podiatrist due to a foot ulcer we got to talking about
my overall health and the pod. asked me who my endo was. I told him that I couldn't find one in the area that took my insurance and went on to tell him about
the endo I had seen once a few years before and what had happened. I didn't name this jerk but did say it was in Champaign and the pod asked me if it was "S". When I said yes the pod makes the comment that he had to be the biggest a-hole he had ever met.
Sorry I didn't mean to hijack your thread. Just thought I would relate a few stories to hopefully give a bit of a chuckle in an otherwise serious and aggravating situation.
Post Edited By Moderator (Chutz) : 6/17/2010 12:52:49 PM (GMT-6)