Have you guys ever had a horrible doctor? I mean, a doctor who refuses to answer your questions about a radioactive test he wants to do on your mom, and then actually cops and attitude about it, says "well I just won't do the test then!" and walks OUT of the room on you? Also, a doctor who refuses to let you have a copy of your test results? Have you ever been treated so badly you wanted to file a complaint against said doctor?

HOW do you do this? With whom can one file a complaint?

Here is what I found online
How to File a Complaint Against a Doctor | eHow.com
My first gut reaction would be to call the clinic he's employed with but I feel you'll have more success going to an outside entity such as the AMA. Good Luck!

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Sorry to hear about the treatment you and your mom had. You are entiitled to get informed answers to questions about tests and treatments. I would file with your local office of the AMA.
Also, if your Mom used insurance, contact the insurance company and tell them what happened. There are health care ratings online that you can write a review on the doctor. I think Yahoo has where you can write a review on the doctor also.
I agree with annadrose to also contact the clinic/hospital or office he works at the voice your concerns and express your displeasure with his treatment.

Thank you, AnnaD and Joy! I am looking at the ehow link now. I am so upset I didn't even THINK to look on their site, so thanks for the help.

I can't actually call the clinic this man works at, hahah, because he runs his own practice. He is the only Endocrinologist for 50 miles around, and I swear he knows it too. My mom called him this morning and told him to Kiss Her Grits, so to speak! Now, somehow, by a miracle, she has a new appt. with a new doctor TOMORROW (I still don't know HOW she did that one!) and it's almost an hour away, but what choice do we have.

ALso, I've been leaving my comments on sites like ratemydoctor. Now sure how good that will do. We want to go higher, a file a real complaint, have someone look into this jerk and his crappy service. He actually walked out on us in the exam room after 4 minutes. I could not believe it. It was only our second visit with him. Just horrible!! I think if he wants to do some radioactive uptake test, then he damn well needs to explain what that is, for cryin' out loud! But not to worry now, we are DONE with him, we just want to file that complaint. So thanks for the help you guys!

I looked at the AMA site, and did a search on 'file complaint against a doctor' and it came back with some results, but none for FL, and we are a HUGE state! I don't get that---but I'll keep looking. There has got to be a local office, or something around here.

Um, you guys, I've got a question for you again. On that e-how site, it says the folliwng:

Talk to other people in your town and community. While it is illegal to 'slander' someone or offer 'public negative opinions'; it is NOT illegal to speak to friends (or friends of friends) about your OWN personal experiences with a certain individual--even if that person is a doctor.

What does that mean----public negative opinions? Is that something like picketing or placing an ad or something like that?

FYI, unless your mother was present when you asked about the testing or you have a medical or durable POA, the MD is not obligated to speak to you regarding your mother's treatment. Assuming that your mother is cognitively "sound" and making her own decisions--if she's comatose or unable to make decisions due to illness it's a different story.

You can file a claim w/ whatever state agency regulates licensing for medical providers. It varies somewhat by state.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Hi Marilyn
Mom and I were both in the exam room. She tried to ask him herself about why he keeps referring her to an eye doctor and the eye doctor keeps referring her back to him, and then she asked about what that uptake test might find, and well, she did most of the asking herself! Mom is completely with it in her mind, believe me! LOL The doctor knew I was her daugher. When we went to leave, mom asked the girls in the office if they could make her a copy of her test results, so we could look stuff up online, and they said it was against their policy to make copies and no, we could not get a copy. It was un-be-lievable!

The doctor acted so put off that we were asking him about what might be mom's condition and you know!! Just the normal questions anybody would ask their doctor!! When he said he wanted to do this scary radiioactive test, I told him I had read about that test online (I have been doing a lot of reading on mom's medical condition, so I am prepared when we go to the doctor!) and that this particular test was primarily for people with other disorders and not hers, and how what were our options, how imperative was it we get this test done, etc...and he got an attitude and got snippy and said what I quoted above, "Well fine, I just won't do the test then!" like a 5 year old having throwing a hissy fit! A grown man, in his 70's maybe, and him and his wife (his head nurse!!!!!!!!!!!) told us we spent too much time reading junk online and that we should quit using the Internet for research! Can you BELIEVE THAT!?! As if the WebMD.com and the American Journal of Meidicine online and the Mayo Clinic.com are going to give us false information. Geez, how old fashioned! Sorry to rant, it's just this is my MOM, you know?! Thanks for the help, again. ;-)

About 11 years ago, I had an issue with an incompetant dentist and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (city & state) against her. I didn't slander anything, I just sat down and typed a letter detailing everything that had gone on and sent it to them with a .cc to her. I am not sure anything ever happened with it, but I felt better. She eventually called and told me of some changes in her practice, but it was too late for me, I didn't care. I never went back.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

A dentist, ugh!! I don't know if the BBB is the right place for me to go in this situation though-- I was thinking more like a place that can at least reprimand him for his crappy attitude and unwillingness to explain anything to us.

I don't want to get involved wtih the insurance co--she had military and medicare and I don' tknow anything about that stuff. I don't want to dispute the visit, but I want to get him reprimanded, or disciplined or something of that nature to let him know he has broken his Hipporcratic Oath to do no harm and to at least TRY to take care of his new patient!

"When we went to leave, mom asked the girls in the office if they could make her a copy of her test results, so we could look stuff up online, and they said it was against their policy to make copies and no, we could not get a copy. It was un-be-lievable! " In most offices, the girls that work in the office are not allowed to make copies of any tests and hand out to patients. In our practice, the MD, RN, PA, or NP are the only ones allowed to do that.

And I have to agree, the internet is a terrible place to do research. We have patients all the time that "read something on line" and it was completely and totally misleading....

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Be careful what you wish for.....

Sorry, I have to agree w/ the MD on this one. People should be well informed, however the internet allows far too much "junk" to filter into the articles. While all the websites do have good information they have worse case scenarios as well. Further, while lab results/test results are definitive in the numbers, they don't always show the true picture! Just like w/ MRIs and CT scans--they might not show a particular thing, but if the patient presents with all the particular clinical symptoms should the Dr. disregard the symptoms because the MRI/CT doesn't show the pathology?? If you have doubts regarding a treatment recommendation, then you probably need to pursue a second opinion.
Plus a lot of questioning an MD is in how you do it. If you would have said, "We don't understand this test and what it will show, can you please explain a bit to us?" you probably would have gotten a response. Instead, you said "well, the Internet says blah, blah, blah, and that this test isn't for this condition, so why are you recommending this?" "we want the lab results so we can look it up ourselves" gives the impression that you think the MD is incompetent.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

About the 'girls' in the office, I guess I should have clarified this and said that we asked his nurse, his wife, who also worked in the office, for a copy. To not give us a copy is b.s. Our family doctor always gives us a copy of anything if we ask for it.

And there is nothing wrong with reading up on one's condition, whether is be in a book from the library, an encyclopedia, a brochure in the doctor's office, OR on the Internet. I don't think that my reading up on my mom's condition in any way harmed us, in fact, it made us more clear on what we were dealing with, so when this doctor suggested a certain test we knew was questionable, I feel we were only doing what we could to ask questions in a POLITE and CONCERNED manner, to explain it to us; no way did we attempt to make him feel incompetant, but we sure think he is NOW! This was only our 2nd visit with him. He should have allotted us more time than less than 5 minutes, I'm sure you can ALL agree on that! He should have been willing to let us ask a couple of simple questions; I don't think that is too much to ask.

I'm sure any of you would do the same---you'd read up on the medical condition. I didn't read into horror stories or anthing like that. Mom's problem is not THAT serious to warrant horror stories yet!! My primary care doctor says I am SMART for reading up on our medicial conditions and treatements. He says it is good to be educated, but not to believe EVERYTHING you read online. However, like I said, sites like WebMD and the Mayo Clinic are NOT going to print false information.

Again as far as giving copies of anything to patients, that varies by institution. It is considered part of the medical record and therefore should not be copied and given out.

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Be careful what you wish for.....

I see your point, but I just don't get it either.

I mean, if my mom goes to the doctor, and he does a test, and while she's there, she asks him for a copy of it, I don't see why he can't give her a copy! I mean, it's HER body, after all, HER results. At this rate, she wonders if he'd refuse to even let her LOOK at her chart/folder! Our primary care doctor lets us hold onto our folder with all of our info, as we are finishing, and checking out. We have the liberty to look through it at our leisure. So I don't get why this other guy refused to let her have a copy of her results of her body out of her chart, as she was there in his office.

4. How do I get access to my own medical records?

HIPAA requires health care providers to allow you access to your medical records upon request. The privacy notice you receive must include information about how you can obtain copies of your medical records. If a written request is necessary, the privacy notice should also tell you this.

If you receive care in a federal medical facility, you have a right to obtain your records under the federal Privacy Act of 1974 (5 USC sec. 552a, USDOJ:OPCL: The Privacy Act of 1974).

We advise that you make your request in writing. If you are denied access, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Civil Rights. Your state's medical privacy law might also enable you to file a complaint with state regulators. For a state-by-state guide to health privacy law, go to hpi.georgetown.edu/privacy/records.html and chose your state from the list on the right.

For a sample letter on requesting access to your medical records, see Sample Letter to Request Medical Records.

5. When can I expect to get my medical records?

HIPAA gives providers 30 days to provide the records. One 30-day extension is allowed for ìgood reason.î State laws may give a provider less time to comply with your request.

She needs to request them properly.. In writing and be prepared to wait at least 30 days...

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Be careful what you wish for.....

I can see why doctors would be hesitant to do that. People see things that they may or may not know how to interpret, and then may incorrectly recall what they *think* they saw when they get home and end up in a tizzy when they go home and start googling around. If they have a policy that you need to request your records in writing, I can understand that, too. They may have a documentation process where they record who got copies of what, and when, and just making copies on the fly to send out the door with patients could result in sloppy record keeping.

So you can't go around making allegations that may or may not be (legally) true. However you can place an ad on your local craigslist asking if anyone has had problems with Dr So and So. After you talk to them and determine if they are legit then perhaps you gather everyone together and all file a complaint against the Dr.

Public negative opinions would be:
I don't like him
He doesn't explain things so I understand
I feel uneasy around him
He is mean to me

Slander would be: (if not true and provable)
He hurts people
He tells lies about the treatments
He skims the medications for himself
He bills insurance for procedures I don't think I received
He doesn't do the procedures correctly
He robs banks
He molests children
etc, etc, etc


Negative public opinion is just that opinion; slander is stating facts that could damage the reputation of the person when you have no concrete evidence.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Hmmm. so it's illegal for me to say publicly that I don't like this doctor and that he was mean to me? Well, it's irrelevant.

Thank you all for the help, and thank you dannic, for that info!

Mom has called a new dr. which we are seeing tomorrow, and they are going to fax all of her records over there. Hopefully, this new doctor will be better!

No, you can say. "I don't like him, he was mean to me and his bedside manner was horrible."

You can't say "I think he is sleeping with his nurse and taking bribes from the vendors".

The difference would be my facts.

The key word... would be, can you use "I" (did you experience it first hand) in the sentence?

You cant form opinions about him on anything you did not experience.- Thus Slander

Thank you, Josieann, that makes a lot of sense.

BTW, for what it's worth.....mom and I went and got a second AND a third opinion about a scary test that doctor wanted to do on mom. It is a radioactive test, one that I had read up on, on the Internet. I KNEW it was not a test for someone with mom's condition and when I questioned that dr. about why he wanted to do this particular test, he copped his little boy attitude and threw his hissy fit and walked out on us. Well, our 2nd and 3rd opinions, from hihghly respected and educated doctors at our U of FL here, said that doctor was completely WRONG in even considering doing that test on mom! I KNEW it! I KNEW there was something really wrong with him. And the nerve of him to tell me I read too much online? ---- man, that STILL riles my feathers! I am still looking into filing some kind of hard complaint against this incompetent man AND his crappy nurse wife who even said to my mother "Don't worry, I won't let you die." What kind of comment is THAT?!

Ohhh, this topic just makes me so mad!! Thanks for everybody's replies and suggestions. No need to comment anymore to this thread, unless you feel compelled to. I'm done with it AND that doctor!

Just to clarify, you can go to three different doctors with the same disease and all three will treat you different. It is not saying they are wrong, they just go about treatment differently.
So that first dr may have ordered that test because based on his experience that is what helps and works...
For example, there are 4 doctors that I work with who treat lung cancer... all 4 of them use a different approach to testing and follow up.

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Be careful what you wish for.....

I know this will come as completely shock dannic:
I wholeheartedly agree with you! No 2 (or 3 or 4) drs. is going to treat exactly the same.
Some orthopedist are "cut happy" and will do surgery, others will take a more conservative approach with surgery being the last option after everything else has failed. Same w/ neurologists/neurosurgeons.
Working with as many MD's offices as I do---I can tell you 90% of the time which one of my claimants will have surgery just by which Dr. they see!

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"