I called my doctor and asked if she could prescribe me a different medicine since the one she just prescribed was highly linked to A LOT of weight gain and raising insulin levels. I have diabetes already I didn't need the additional insulin! She called me this morning and I told her that since I was already diabetic I didn't think it would be a good idea, she said "How do you know you are diabetic?" How do I know? What kind of question is that? Does she think I was bored one day and decided to become diabetic????? I said "well I had tests and said I was and my doctor is treating me for it" she then said "oh well you didnt tell me" I knew I told her on day one when she asked me what the Avandia was for but I didnt' want to be bitchy(I should have ) and said "well I'm sorry I could have sworn I told you" She then goes "phhhhh". I cannot believe how rude she was to me. I'm so infuriated right now.

On another note she sent me another patients papers with their name on it and all, which is a violation of that person's privacy, which is a big offense and she would be fined if I reported her. But I said no it was a mistake I won't, but after this? Hell on that I'm calling this week to report her and finding a new doctor. I cannot believe how rude she was.

Sounds to me that she may be popping a few herself...... If I were you I would get another Dr. It is very important that you are comfortable with the Dr. that you choose, she really didn't seem like she cared about you anyway......Good luck on your search.

Tannis

It's very difficult in today's society to have 1 Dr that knows everything about you and every medication you are on. For every organ in my body I have a Dr. for it. It's not like the old days where you had 1 Dr and he treated your sore throat and your hemmies.

I don't know where you live, but the Drs. around here are very unsympathetic towards patients. All they want is their copay before you can even see them and then they shove you through fast to get on with their next copay.

I say go for it and turn her in. She was sweating it already by asking you if you were going to do it--she knew she did wrong. A friend of mine takes her 2 kids to a local pediatrician and they have billed her 3 TIMES for dates when she didn't even have her child to the Dr. She called their office the first 2 times and they admitted error, this last time she said that's it--and turned him in for fraud.

The sad thing is...is that you wonder who's chart he had and what information is wrong. Plus the immunizations---you wouldn't know if your child was getting the right ones or not. Big time mess.

Anyway, you were right to call and question about the medicine and you are also right in finding a new doctor. It took me 27 Drs to finally figure out I had diabetes---can you believe that? I took the Glucose Tolerance Test to 27 Drs and kept complaning of diabetic like symptoms and only did 1 Dr take one quick glance at the paper and say "you're a diabetic". He put me on medicine and I've been fine ever since. I struggled with sickness for 6 years, almost claiming my own life because I was so depressed and physically sick from it. 1 out of 27 Drs cared enough about me to diagnose me correctly...how sad is that.

Good luck to you--sorry for rambling.

"T"

It amazes me how some doctors behave! I grew up in S. Florida, I'm a redhead, and have fair skin. I'm skin cancer waiting to happen. A couple of years ago I went to a doctor to get a suspicious spot on my arm checked out. I was pretty sure it was an actinokeratosis - a precursor to skin cancer, and informed the nurse about my suspicions. The nurse agreed and wrote the info on my chart.

Now I'm 50, and the doc looked like she was in her 30's. But she came in the room and said "Well, sweetie, do we have a boo boo on our arm?"

First of all, I'm not her sweetie, her granny, her kid, or whatever. I'm an educated professional. And it wasn't a "boo boo" on my arm. I was using professional language - I have a master's degree in science and extensive experience in cancer and immunology research - and she blows me off as if I was a child or an old grannie with dementia. That ticked me off. When she looked at the spot she did decide to refer me to a specialist, but took almost a month to contact me with the information. I'm glad that spot wasn't malignant melinoma and growing while I waited! When I called the office to find out what was taking so long, they again blew me off. I complained and they acted like I was freaking out over a freckle. (The specialist diagnosed it as an early carcinoma and surgically removed the spot, leaving me a 1.5 inch souvenir on my forearm.)

I immediately found another doctor. A good one this time. And then I got a letter in the mail from the old one - they were kicking me out as a patient because I had complained about them taking too long to refer me. HAH! I beat them to it!

Aaaaahhhhhh, that rant just felt good! So LovableLC, drop that doc like a hot potato, and get a good one!

Joan

Lovable,

So sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. I'm guessing this is a specialist and not your regular physician since she didn't know about the Avandia.

Well, managing stress is important and working with a physician who is going to value your physical health as well as your mental health is important. There are physicians who do value both and will work with you to keep both in balance.

Good for you for not checking your brain at the door and for advocating for yourself.

Grab a tissue, have a cry, take a few deep breaths and pull out that provider directory. (If you like your primary care physician, perhaps he/she can recommend someone to your liking)

Take care.

Unfortunately, we have to be our own advocates and the adage of "let the buyer beware" applies to physicians these days as well.
I also had a very bad experience with a large group of doctors when my oldest daughter was very young. She had 13 ear infections between the ages of 1 and 3 and I still had to literally have a tantrum in the doctors office one day to get them to refer her to a ear specialist and that after she had the same ear infection for a month and had already been on 3 different antibiotics (they were proposing putting her on a 4th). Nobody picked it up because she was seeing a different doctor every time we came in and none of them were bothering to read her chart. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. By the time that we saw the specialist he informed us after performing several hearing tests that she had a 50% hearing loss in both ears that may or may not be reversible. We had tubes placed in her ears and had her hearing checked again. She was diagnosed with permanent hearing damage; not 50% but enough so that she never heard a bird sing until she was 5 and that "permanent" damage somehow reversed itself (doc still can't explain how) after having her second set of tubes placed. It delayed her starting school by a year because her speach had not yet developed to be understandable by anyone but close family members (a result of the early hearing loss). At the age of 3, she literally had to re-learn how to pronounce words all over again because up until that point she had been talking like she was hearing.
Moral of the story? If you're not happy with the care you are receiving or how you are being treated by your current doctor, find another one and don't wait until the one you are currently seeing does something (or doesn't do something) that causes irreversible harm. You are the patient, but you are also a customer paying for a service. If you aren't satisfied with the services you are receiving, talk with your feet by leaving. Learn at least a little something about the condition(s) that you have and what is and is not considered appropriate treatment for it.
Doctors hate having their opinions and judgment questioned, but the bottom line is that it's your health on the line, not theirs.

Time for a new Doctor? I think maybe YES!
Best wishes;
HAPPY JAKE

Haven't even read your complete post yet. NEW DOCTOR.. You don't need that aggravation!

Good Luck

The 1st Day I saw her she asked of my current medical conditions and all medications I was on and the reason for it. She wrote this down. I think it's her duty to look at that page when prescribing a new medicine to make sure its ok, it would take her about 2 minutes to do so. She didn't even know what medications SHE had me on, she asked me what I was on, what strength and how many a day. That is just plain pathetic. Why is she writing things down if she's not going to use it??? I'm still angry, my poor stomach is on a roller coaster ride. Damn the stress.

I, too, vote for a new doctor.

Hopefully, you will find someone who is "professional". If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I agree with the statement that this is your health and your life. I know the frustration!!

when I was a little kid I had a wonderful doctor, but when I was about 13 he retired and most of his patients got automatically given to his son. When I was 13 I had a birthmark removed, had to go to him for a check up first. when I was fourteen, I had to go to the dr for an illness, "where did you get this scar? Told him he did the check up for it. He said he couldn't remember all of his patients as he sees so many in one day. When I was 16 went to him cause I was having stress and not handling it too well. You know he told me? That I was fat, needed to exercise and to cut out the junk food. Remember I was !16! AND a girl I told him, I walk at least 5 miles a day and work at a fast food place. He told me to start running those 5 miles and drink diet soda and bring my own meals to work. It still makes me made that he talked to me that way. I don't think he was very sensitive to the fact that he could have been the reason for me to develop some sort of disorder or worse. Needless to say, after that I have only been to the doctor once in 8 years after that and not to him!

Sorry so long

Two things....

First of all, thank goodness you were smart enough to know the medicine she prescribed wasn't right for you! Just think about the other people she might be prescribing wrong medicine for!

Secondly, maybe you should look into not only reporting her for violating the privacy act, but maybe malpractice? Could the medicine she prescribed have done any damage had you taken it for any period of time?

I agree with everyone here. This doctor is a complete airhead and screw up. Try to find a doc who's more concerned with YOU, than raking in the money. Good luck!

I think all these complaints about doctors are about a bigger problem - HMO's and PPO's that control them.
I have a PPO that is AWFUL. I go to Mayo's because most of our doc's and our only hospital stinks and my PPO (Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kentucky) tries to continually not pay their obligation. My mother in law has them as well (same plan) and they are trying to get away with only paying 1/2 of her $16,000 dollar surgery at Mayo's, yet our plan is supposed to cover 80% when you go out of the PPO circuit.

Oh, by the way, doctor's offices that are within HMO and PPO plans get *kick-backs* for taking their sweet time to refer you to a specialist - this is known as a *people management* technique. Somehow, they think you will just go away instead of staying with it. This is really a stupid move on their part because the longer you have to wait, the likely sicker you are and the more money it is going to cost them in the end (and of course, the intangible cost of your lost health to you).

People - we need REAL legislation to protect all of us from the health insurance companies - make it an issue of the upcoming elections.

*stepping down off soapbox*

Amen Jeanne-you beat me to the post!
You will have great difficulty with most HMO or PPO docs -the insurance companies definitely control what tests, meds and referrals they can order. Some docs have the balls to buck the system-but they don't stay in the system long and you lose access to that doc if you are dependent on insurance to pay your bill. Firm, knowledgeable patients will get their care - especially when you sound like you know the system.

Wow! What horror stories, I think I will send flowers to my doctor and thank her for her care and concern, and for treating me like an adult who knows her own body. After reading these posts I realize how great she is.