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Has anyone been formally dismissed from a medical practice?

Lipac

Senior Member
Messages
160
Location
michigan
This has NOT helped my stress levels or the huge worsening of symptoms since the end of November.

I thought I finally found an internist who took me semi seriously, since I have many MS symptoms. I went in for my first visit, stating I " was willing to wean off clonazepam slowly". He did a decent H and P, ordered malabsorption tests, an MRI, thyroid, etc.
The next visit, he gave a MA my scripts which she was confused by and got wrong. That was a MONTH AGO.
I attempted twice through messages, and the pharmacy to get the clonazepam corrected.
I went in to pick up a script at the office weeks l later, and found it was the SAME erroneous one.

When I questioned it, three MAs came out and started scolding me like a child, etc etc.
No one else was around.
I was shaking and trying not to cry. It was a bad scene. I'm 60, btw. They were all under 40.

I eventually got the correct script with faxes from the pharmacy. I went for my MRI and PT eval this week ( was told I am too weak to take a walk, forget exercising except bed exercises) .

2 days ago, a month after the incident with the MAs, The Clinic Manager ( who I'm sure was ex military or a cop) called and harshly told me I was getting a letter of dismissal for threatening behavior.

I went to pieces. I told him I had just gotten all my tests done, the pharmacy understands my prescriptions if there is any question, I REALLY thought the Dr did a good job, that this was a simple RX mistake that has been blown out of proportion, I have tried for 5 months to find a Dr... PLEASE PLEASE don't do this.

He was unwavering

A letter will put a Red Flag on me, and no one else will see me. I'm not crazy or violent. I don't like conflict.

I finally told him he needed to do his research before making a call like this: if I was suicidal or a struggling alcoholic, this type of call would have put me over the edge.

He called back yesterday and told me my appointment was cancelled and DO NOT CALL AGAIN.

I'VE had a terrible tremor all week. It raged on Wed, now by Friday, it's bad. It's not anxiety. It's a REAL TREMOR.
Weakness is bad.
I'm not having bad dreams, etc or panic attacks... I'm worried about what in the world to do.... but it's not anxiety

Every month since Sept I've been next to running out of clonazepam.

Running out of Clonazepam landed me in an ER two years ago when I was healthier. Severe tremors caused a fall and dislocated pelvis, five days with ZERO sleep. It took 9 months and $50,000 to recover.

That was CA with a decent ER and a ND who never mentioned " weaning off clonazepam" like every MI Dr has done since Sept.
I'm trying, but get NO credit.
I don't have a mood disorder, or mental illness.

Since Sept, every Dr has said " Find another Dr. This isn't the place for you".
I'm on no narcotics.
I'm not an addict . I don't drink or smoke.
I've got records from at least 2009 of the same dose... Never take more of my meds. Etc.

There are now no Drs left to see. The others in my area are booking in December 2018!

I have no one to help drive me an hour and a half away. Another strange Dr who rejects me, or is rude, scolding etc ...I don't think I can take. It probably looks suspicious that I look horrible, am alone with no one to vouch for me and not from this area.

My brother's a Dr and I live with his disgust and criticism. My 80 year old mother says " oh I have that" while she's getting fixed up the go somewhere.

This " formal dismal" feels like being falsely acused by the police. It feels like a nightmare.
I was a Practitioner , for God's sake....

Do medical personal recoil and attack us because of that Primal Fear of Illness and Deformity?
Or are we a Reminder that Age and Illness can hit ANYONE, and they are afraid?

I just read about Patient Abandonment.
That's what's been happening to me.
I didn't know it's illegal.

I emailed some lawfirm. I don't have the energy for a fight. I just have had more abuse than I can swallow.

If I end up in the ER because of no medicine, I'm not sure how I'll be treated.... There's no Dr here in the ER anymore. They assume anyone shaking is an addict.
I doubt they'll help.
 

Countrygirl

Senior Member
Messages
5,429
Location
UK
@Lipac I am too bushed to write now, but just want to say before I turn the lights out and hit the hay that I am appalled at what has happened to you. I am so, so sorry. What a shocking way to treat a patient!

I hope one of us can come up with some answers for you.

Meanwhile.......may their miserable socks rot! :mad:
 

Ravn

Senior Member
Messages
147
That sort of stress is too much for any one person to bear!
Is there a patient support group in your area that you could contact and who could try to mediate and advocate on your behalf? Or a church group? Or some charitable association?
 

Lipac

Senior Member
Messages
160
Location
michigan
That sort of stress is too much for any one person to bear!
Is there a patient support group in your area that you could contact and who could try to mediate and advocate on your behalf? Or a church group? Or some charitable association?
I'm seeing a counselor but my fifty minutes runs out before we get anywhere. It's All I can do to drive in to see her at 5 pm once a week. There aren't support groups. I don't think anyone in this miserable state has CFS... Even the University of Michigan, four hours away, has nothing even for Fibromyalgia. My counselor kept asking me what I was going to do. I told her I'm out of ideas. There are low income clinics, but the only chronic illnesses they see are REAL things, like diabetes. Because of clonazepam and Lyrica I can't get an appointment.

I'm beginning to think maybe they are all correct: I do just want to escape from life . This lying in bed waiting to take medication at night is a cop- out that weak people take. The poor need to be put to work.
That all I need is CBT to think correctly; and my symptoms will vanish, life will be great...

It would be so much easier to stop fighting my ideas of who I am and was, and accept I'm a weak failure of a person. That I " take drugs" to cope.
That's the BELIEVABLE story.
The truth, that I systematically lost everything from illness and a sociopathic husband, that my " nice" mother hates me for it, that Drs keep rejecting me and I don't know why... All that sounds like I live in HUGE denial, have major " Blind Spots" and my view of reality is so skewed, I can't see myself clearly.
 
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Lipac

Senior Member
Messages
160
Location
michigan
@Lipac ;

I just can't believe this happened to you. I don't think this to be fair nor straight. :(
I'm so chocked.
Is there a way to contact the internist who is following you?
That was the point of the call. I cannot contact the clinic. The Dr did say, he thought I wouldn't come back because " you didn't like me"...? Huh. Then he said he couldn't help me.
I'm sure the MAs complaining was the convenient excuse. The Dr clearly didn't want me as a patient.
 

caledonia

Senior Member
I don't think it would hurt to talk to a lawyer (or two or three). Just an initial consultation to see what your options are. Like getting this letter removed from your medical records.

Have you actually received this official letter yet, or is that just a bluff from the manager?

Since you have a lot of MS symptoms, perhaps the MS Society could be helpful?
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,931
That was the point of the call. I cannot contact the clinic. The Dr did say, he thought I wouldn't come back because " you didn't like me"...? Huh. Then he said he couldn't help me.
I'm sure the MAs complaining was the convenient excuse. The Dr clearly didn't want me as a patient.

We are so often thrown away by doctors when they feel that we are beyond their ability and beyond the actual ability of medecine, but I can't believe this doctor did it that way.
I agree with @caledonia, I think you should do something and find help,or maybe write a letter to the doc and explain there was a misunderstanding, and explain your story to him.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,684
Location
Alberta
Yes, I was sent a letter claiming threatening behaviour and asked not to return to a clinic. I forget the details, but I think the clinic lost my appointment, and I explained that that really wasn't helpful since i was feeling suicidal. They claimed that as a threat. I think I just didn't look like easy money and they wanted an excuse to deny me service. I also had one doctor refuse to see me because I'd made a formal complaint against her husband (also a doctor at that clinic), even though that complaint was verified (he forgot to make an appointment for me with a specialist, and hadn't kept records of my appointments with him).

In Canada there's a formal complaint process...which is mostly a waste of time for the patients and probably risks getting some sort of black mark through the grapevine if not officially. It is a serious shame on the system that people who are least able to handle such hassles are subject to such stress.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,684
Location
Alberta
I managed to control the suicidal moods (mostly) by avoiding niacin-rich foods. At the time when suicidal moods were a problem, I did try the various suicide support services. When I explained that the moods were due to some sort of chronic neuroinflammation (what I believed at the time), the answer from all those services was simply "Sorry, can't help you." At the first meeting, the person at the local mental health clinic assured me that they'd do everything they could to help, and wouldn't give up until they'd found a solution. Second meeting, she said that they'd discussed my case, and the only thing they could come up with was one person's suggestion of TCM (didn't help). They didn't suggest that I return. My experience with the various suicide prevention services is that they are only there for the easy, well-understood cases.

I wouldn't advise ME/CFS patients to avoid those services, but I wouldn't expect them to actually help either. I'm more afraid of being confined in a hospital by well-meaning (but ignorant of ME/CFS) staff and being pumped full of unhelpful drugs than I am of dying quickly and painlessly.
 

Shoshana

Northern USA
Messages
6,035
Location
Northern USA
The truth, that I systematically lost everything from illness and........(other causes added to it) ,.......

This DOES sound like truth to me.
Not the other incorrect guesses, and wrong, wild conclusions, that some might draw. They are wrong for so many reasons.

IMO, neither of those meds are horrible or extreme choices, and if they help you, I do not comprehend why medical people would see them, as unreasonable.
(Though I do know some do, I just think it is so unreasonable of them! There are other much worse meds you might be taking, and sometimes people need meds ....)

The idea of trying to have a third party intervene with the doctor directly, is a good one, but I know it would be difficult to find the right, best advocate for that.
And as you said, perhaps that doctor does not want a patient he doesn't "cure" or "his type of preferred patient" which is awful too. He might be using his MA's and staff, to cover for him.

I agree with that first post, where it was said that others have an instinct to protect themselves from seeing the ill persons as respectable normal people who have a difficulty, possibly due to their own fear of knowing it could happen to them. Also, the medical schools teach them to stay distant, which I do not agree with. It does not make them more rational or objective, instead it introduces bias and disrespect and total lack of compassion for others, which is the cornerstone of any helping profession.

I agree with Caledonia, that it would be worth talking with lawyers, with the goal to get the notes removed from your ongoing medical records. (Not necessarily to get that doctor back)

ANd, @Wishful I am so sorry that the similar and bad experience happened to you too. Its terrible.

Its an awful experience, you are in @Lipac
Hang in there.
 
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Lipac

Senior Member
Messages
160
Location
michigan
Or combine the ideas of @caledonia and @pattismith and get a lawyer (maybe from a community law practice or similar to save on costs, if available) to write the letter for you?

I contacted a law firm advertising Patient Abandonment. They wouldn't take my case.

@Wishful, if you are feeling suicidal, would there be any suicide support/advocacy groups?
 
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Lipac

Senior Member
Messages
160
Location
michigan
I wrote to a law firm that advertised for Patient Abandonment.
They wrote back and said they decided not to take my case.

If I was in a coma or dead because of neglect, my relatives might get a settlement, IF they even would bother.
They wouldn't. They'd be glad it was over.

Most Chronically ill or elderly patients families with VALID malpractice claims are too worn out the file them. Drs know that and often the hospital systems play on worn out families , by acting sympathetic, so there is no anger, Retribution, etc.

As long as SOMEONE comes along and makes the SURVIVORS feel like ' You did all you could'... That's all they want.

My 83 yo MIL died of uterine cancer.
Almost no one dies of metastatic endometrial cancer. It takes years to grow and years metastasize, average 6 six years.
There were years of symptoms being ignored by a gynecologist somewhere for that to happen.
Her children were a FNP and a PA. They were just happy mom went to hospice and died.
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,931
@Lipac I'm sorry that this law firm refused to help you.
I found this medical system really cruel,
I give you a big Hug because that's all I found at the moment
 

Shoshana

Northern USA
Messages
6,035
Location
Northern USA
Sorry about that law firm @Lipac

I agree with what you said. The people who most need the help, are just too sick and worn out, to get it.
And if they bravely use their bit of stamina to try, as you did, they often get refused.:devil:

We are not the "EASY" cases they want, and not the bigger money-makers either. :(:mad:

I agree with @pattismith it is cruel.