emotional abuse at hands of a quack

[Soundy]

Wow!....Any thoughts of reporting him! What a complete jerk. I think I would have lost it...I had a similar experience, not quite as bad as yours and I gave the doc both barrels of my opinion of his arrogance and his lack of medical knowledge. Told him he was a %$#&&^% quack and asked if he had bought his degree. loud enough so that those waiting outside heard it all. I'm 6'4" and at the time I was about 270 lbs...when I'm angry I look very mean....he shrunk into the corner as I stormed out...I wasn't asked about my co-pay...

I kinda went into shock and couldn't think or act ... if I was thinking I would have kneed the creep
... and he has been reported ... don't think much will be done ...

Lyrica is still doing just a little as far as headaches but fibromyalgia pain is better...maybe by the time I get
up to the level my doctor wants me on my head will ache less...

[kenneth_k]

Soundy,

does the quack have any resemblance with the doctor in "Canonball Run" with Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLouise?

It is terrible not to be taken serious, especially with our condition, but he sounds like he is ridicoulos. It is actually good training for a non-native speaker to try to write something about him without swearing

Hope your headaches resolve soon.

Kenneth

[Soundy]

Dr Van Helsing ...well not so much in looks but in competency yes there is a resemblance ... I got a
letter yesterday saying that I really needed to come back and see him on the 25th and not just stop
the Neurontin suddenly...they have called and I told them I was not coming back and that I never
started the Neurontin and please do not call me again so I guess they mailed me the letter instead
of calling again

Lyrica is helping headaches I get during the night from rolling over and laying wrong and also headaches
I get from too much activity... I was at school all day Friday and only came home worn out and took a
3 hour nap... but no headache...

I got choked on a nacho at the kids basketball  game yesterday and coughed hard a couple times  ...instantly
got the hammer to the back of the head pain ... took two Tylenol and waited after 30 minutes had to take
half a hydrocodone ...my doctor was there with his son and told me to go on and take a whole one but told
him I did half and the other half after 15 or 20 minutes if I needed it  ... so we waited and it worked ... I did
have to go kinda hide so people wouldn't see me teary looking and think something was wrong ... doc came
and looked at me a couple times and we talked about lyrica and if I thought it would be enough... gonna wait
til I am up to full dose and be on it for a week or two before I pass full judgement... but I told him I am happy
with improvement so far ...things are so much better ...

and the added bonus of my legs and shoulders not hurting as much makes me even more happy ...it still makes
me a bit wonky after about 30 minutes and I see what looks like the heat ripples you see coming off a road in
the summer ... but they pass and I go on ...

the sneezing ,coughing ,bending over fast jerky movement headache I get may be something I just have to deal
with as they come up... we have the others that were the main problem and almost 24/7 about licked ..hope it
continues to get better when we get to full dose and that I can tolerate a full dose and function day to day...

getting better in Tennessee

[Captain Deb]

Soundy, have you ever tried Topamax? At the ANA Symposium Dr Silberstien, who sees many post AN surgery headache patients, point-blank told me that that was the medication that he had had the greatest amount of success with.  I told my doc that and he immediately wrote me a script and stopped all this trial and error crap. It worked. Pass that tidbit on to your doc.

Capt Deb the Topamax Cheerleader

[Soundy]

All I have up until lyrica was Tylenol and hydrocodone for any thing Tylenol wouldn't esase...and
the shots of Demerol and Demerol pills I was sent home with after a couple brain wrecks sent
me to the hospital on three occasions

my surgeon who decided to write music instead had told my doctor not to prescribe anything til a
year was up other than hydrocodone fro bad time .....let things heal good before deciding there was
a problem... I honestly don't think he knew what to do with me post op and was hoping things
would just go away...

my doctor is mad at himself fro not going on and prescribing the lyrica earlier ... upped it today to 3
times a day ...stay at this level two weeks and see what happens ... headaches are way down in number ...

I subbed from 11:00 today until school got out and aside from getting irritated at a couple of kids who
were trying to see how far they could push me I just got tired and no headache... a couple weeks ago a
half day would have meant at least tylonal...and more than likely half a hydrocodone... today it took a 2 hour nap
to get strength up to feed my family ... may be able to go back to subbing again... small victory...

I will mention topamax to him ... don't know if it would help with the headaches I get from the sudden
unavoidable things like sneezes and coughs... if we could lick those I would have it made ...well other than the
swagger in my walk ... and that just adds a little character 

[Soundy]

three days on the full dose he wants me at and I am in a fog ... dragging feet and so tired I could lay
down on the ground and sleep... but cleaned house and moved some furniture today as planned ... doctor
said to try to go about as usual and not give in immediately to  sleep... did take an hour nap and had
family wake me up... he says I should adjust and be able to function ... the every 12 didn't bother me
much taking it in the evening several hours before turning in and then after I got up from sleeping ...
this dose is kicking my butt ... may need to shift timing ... right now I am at 10pm , 6 am and 2 pm...
doctor said to space it as close to every 8 hours as I could ...

headaches still held at bay ... was out in wind and it only made me a bit dizzy and uneasy... put hat over
head to keep wind out of good ear but allow me to hear ... high winds usually make me stay in ...

[Soundy]

lyrica still working good and less foggy  ... so satisfied ... now on to my real reason for posting

quack sent me a bill and I said I was not going to pay it ... I was told he was in network which
would have got me a discount but not any payment on the trip since BCBS thinks I should be fine
by now ...but turns out he was not in-network... so I have a $257.00 bill that was sent to collection
almost the instant I told them I was not paying it and the reasons why ... after arbitration or what ever
they called it I was found responsible for it and ordered to pay...it is my word against his and his nurse
the only witness and she says that if anything happened it happened while she was out of the room...
I was never alone with him...she was there for the whole show  ...

I asked what the minimum monthly payment by law is and was told it was $5... so for the next 51.4 months
he will get a $5 money order from me ... I can get free MOs at my bank and don't want them to have
one of my checks on the chance they could use the info to get full balance ... my husband said just pay it
but I ain't over being totally pissed off and not ready to turn over $257 for being insulted ,abused ,harassed
and whatever else the incident can be described as ...


and no I am not stubborn ,vindictive , hold a grudge or anything like that 

[msmaggie]

I do like how your mind works!!  I'm with you.  Make him wait for it as long as you can!
Vindictive? no.  Just minding your budget  .

Priscilla

[Jim Scott]

Soundy ~

I think you're absolutely right.  Because this quack did spend time with you I suppose, legally, he can charge you for the 'office visit'.  However, paying the contested bill in five-dollar monthly increments is brilliant.  It'll take over four years for the quack to get his unjustified payment and while he may not care, you'll have the satisfaction of making him collect it the hard way.  I think the money order method is wise, although I doubt a collection agency could seize money from your bank account without a court order, but why take the chance?  What a sad end to an awful experience.  I trust you'll spread the word far and wide about this doctor.  That - and the $5. monthly payments - are about the best you can do. 

Jim

[stoneaxe]

I'd take it a step further...500 pennies delivered personally...not rolled...just dump them on the desk and ask for a receipt. Make it obvious to waiting patients what your opinion is of this quack. Maybe even go further than that. Given the behavior this guy exhibited its likely that you aren't the only one to be abused. You might try and find the nature of the complaints against this jerk...if any are sexual in nature. Find a lawyer willing to take a suit against him. Guys like this shouldn't be practicing medicine.

[Soundy]

I'd take it a step further...500 pennies delivered personally...not rolled...just dump them on the desk and ask for a receipt. Make it obvious to waiting patients what your opinion is of this quack. Maybe even go further than that. Given the behavior this guy exhibited its likely that you aren't the only one to be abused. You might try and find the nature of the complaints against this jerk...if any are sexual in nature. Find a lawyer willing to take a suit against him. Guys like this shouldn't be practicing medicine.

I like your thinking ... ... pennies are so nice and shiny and jingly

I was told I was not entitled to know the nature of other complaints ... but have spread the word of the visit
far and wide,,, and at least my doctor and his partner have taken him off their list of local doctors for referals...
may ask my doctor if he know channels  to get to the root of other complaints that others have against him

[yardtick]

Being a banker, I love the pennies   hehehehehe  He'll probably get his nurse to roll them up.  I'm sure that job would be way beneath him .....so sorry I have a headache and I'm nasty...hehehehehe

Anne Marie

[leapyrtwins]

500 pennies!  Great idea, Stoneaxe! 

Jan

[kate]

Soundy, What a terrible experience that must have been. I am glad you are feeling better now and getting some sunshine today. It is sure a tough call, when you need to focus your energy on your own well being, yet feel the right thing to do is to report and follow up to protect others from similar treatment. Wishing you the very best. Kate

[bridgie]

Soundy~
I've come along late in the game here and just today read this story of yours. I've had similar experience(s) w/neurologists minus the erection (I think!) A headache neurologist for example last fall half listening to my story and truth but copiously writing more of a legal type brief rather than taking down a health history. They can be very snarky and I've found 'act out' unprofessionally themselves and throw you off while you are already feeling vulnerable. IMHO they take full advantage of your vulnerable state and desire for good pain management and go about manipulating the truth in their approach. They get away with manipulating the exam and your interactions with them because you want help so badly and you somehow think they might have the answers. Some of these so-called neurologist really don't like treating headache patients and simply focus on finding away to factor in a headache co-morbidity --hence their most inersted in judging your character. Because they have this authority its very difficult to call back and call them on their acting out. Its maddening. Hope this makes sense.

I asked this crazy doctor I saw about the area where my craniotomy bone flap used to be. (It had to be removed when it became infected) I wanted to know if the scaring is likely adhered to my dura. He just looked at me like I was crazy and told me I still have the bone flap. He said it was impossible for me not to have the bone flap. He tapped where the bone flap once was and said its hard there and if I didn't have the bone flap it would be soft.  I told him I could show him images and reports from my neurosurgeon and he could see/read for himself I no longer have a bone flap. He just rolled his eyes directly at me. In fact rolling his eyes is something he constantly did when I was explaining anything or asking questions. Basically he talked to me childlike and acted like I was crazy. I am ashamed to say I actually saw this quack three times. My Primary care doc and psychologist I was seeing made up excuses for his poor behaviours. But soon they too realized this guy was off the wall.

Its a good idea to ask for records from doctors like this. Write a note and ask for a copy. You might have to pay a small fee. The act of doing this might work 'em up a little plus you might see the nurses notes while she sat in the room during your exam. Anyway, you might see how they are framing your case by making big deals out of small behaviours via acting out themselves so you react which gives them something to manipulate in your health histroy report. They'll purposely use key words that raise red flags towards a potencial mental disorder or personality disorder for example. Plus sometimes these records will follow you through your care onto other doctors. And IMHO if they ignore or dismiss your craniotomy history and make stuff up about co-morbidities they don't have to take responsibility to actively help you manage your headaches. I'm certain this is the case as far as this doctor I saw last fall.

Its great you reported this guy. Hopefully to the medical board. Even if it doesn't go any further now and no actions are taken by the board at least you've marked his record in the event a case is built against him in the future. You could post an online review on yelp and Angie's list.