- Messages
- 79
Dr. Lynch terminated me as a severe ME/CFS patient with complicating Lyme (secondary to severe ME/CFS) because I am such a severe patient and he felt that was too complicated for him to deal with as one of the 25 percent patients, and as he said in his very abrupt termination letters (the first dated about a month ago, right as the Covid-19 shutdown hit Mass.) he only cited his own "discomfort" with my case, without giving me any avenues for continuation of care, addressing concerns, etc. He also did this one day after offering telehealth finally more broadly via his clinic and the new Medicare expansion of this, to all other patients but me, one of his most homebound.
So, I am homebound and bedbound and I was just abruptly and cruelly dumped by Dr. Lynch's practice with no warning after *15 years* of being a patient there, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, an act of almost unfathomable cruelty for someone as sick as I am. He *also* cancelled the MRI testing I'd scheduled to try and rule out CCI, since I hadn't been able to get the test in 8 months or so (it was scheduled for May, so I would have postponed it again, but instead he cancelled it against my wishes). I had spent 15 years begging that clinic to make accommodations for the sickest 25 percent, such as allowing *any* practitioners there to do home visits (including nurses) which they told me early on they did not allow (THIS was against policy for all staff there, per one of the staff members) even though there are really no other alternatives in this rural setting. I would absolutely warn the 25 percent patients that this could happen to them too, if they make the mistake of moving to this ME-doctorless area like I did, and expect Massachusetts to be "normal" in the sense of patients just being able to call up doctors who treat this illness and make an appointment and not be dumped out in the cold once you have complications from severe ME/CFS (particularly secondary Lyme, as doctors here are not ILADS and generally disagree with ILADS guidelines) and skew their recovery stats (Dr. Lynch is the only doc now on most lists for Massachusetts for ME experts, most others retired or semi-retired). The termination was out of left field for me -- no warning, no explanation -- and Dr. Lynch's medical notes from five years of seeing me (I had previously seen his former business partner, Dr. Elson, who retired) literally do not reflect a single concern or issue with me, and none were ever brought up to me (for the whole 15 years), nor was I ever alerted to any policies I could have inadvertently violated there. I had been killing myself to actually get to his office once every 6 months or so -- which for me has meant, almost never seeing people, talking out loud, or doing anything in-between, so at the expense of all else simply because of not having homebound access to medical practitioners here in W. Mass. -- but then in his second termination letters sent with my medical records (again, no warning) he cited that I didn't get to enough appointments for him to continue treating me. Severe patients understand what a big deal it was for me to get to his office at all.
Frankly, I think being put on this panel fueled his ego and it became so inflated (thinking he's on the level of someone like Ron Davis, which he's not) that it led to this sudden act of cruelty as he became so overwhelmed with patients due to the general desperation around finding any doctor here with *any* awareness regarding Lyme or ME. I used to think he was a nice guy too, and I honestly felt like we had a positive working relationship until his bizarre and senseless cruelty toward me, but the ableism and cruelty I ultimately experienced there because I'm one of the few mostly homebound-bedbound patients truly blew my mind, and the only reason for him acting this way with me -- from his termination letters -- was simply that I'm very sick and my case is very complicated. His former business partner, Dr. Elson, never dumped me, and simply retired -- but for decades they have been the only ME/CFS-treating clinic in this part of the state, and notably, Dr. Lynch seemingly barred me from seeing all practitioners there now (honestly, the only explanation I have gotten is that my case was too complicated and thus made him "uncomfortable," and he has cited persistent discomfort that was never reflected in five years of medical notes from him, so he never brought it up). I'm really terrified for my life here now, due to the lack of medical access. Janet DaFoe, since you posted here, I just want you to know that if it were your son seeing Dr. Lynch, he would likely get dumped by this man (if not for the fact that Dr. Lynch seemingly got an ego boost and a big head from being put on this panel with your lovely husband). Now another very ill patient (me, also a long-time activist in the ME/CFS community) is fearing for her life in W. Mass., because of the patient abandonment from this guy, and I'm completely stuck in a place now with zero available ME doctors.
I would like to hear from other ME/CFS patients with similar experiences at Northampton Integrative Medicine (formerly Northampton Wellness Associates) or who have had negative experiences with ME/CFS via practitioners or hospitals in Massachusetts more generally.
So, I am homebound and bedbound and I was just abruptly and cruelly dumped by Dr. Lynch's practice with no warning after *15 years* of being a patient there, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, an act of almost unfathomable cruelty for someone as sick as I am. He *also* cancelled the MRI testing I'd scheduled to try and rule out CCI, since I hadn't been able to get the test in 8 months or so (it was scheduled for May, so I would have postponed it again, but instead he cancelled it against my wishes). I had spent 15 years begging that clinic to make accommodations for the sickest 25 percent, such as allowing *any* practitioners there to do home visits (including nurses) which they told me early on they did not allow (THIS was against policy for all staff there, per one of the staff members) even though there are really no other alternatives in this rural setting. I would absolutely warn the 25 percent patients that this could happen to them too, if they make the mistake of moving to this ME-doctorless area like I did, and expect Massachusetts to be "normal" in the sense of patients just being able to call up doctors who treat this illness and make an appointment and not be dumped out in the cold once you have complications from severe ME/CFS (particularly secondary Lyme, as doctors here are not ILADS and generally disagree with ILADS guidelines) and skew their recovery stats (Dr. Lynch is the only doc now on most lists for Massachusetts for ME experts, most others retired or semi-retired). The termination was out of left field for me -- no warning, no explanation -- and Dr. Lynch's medical notes from five years of seeing me (I had previously seen his former business partner, Dr. Elson, who retired) literally do not reflect a single concern or issue with me, and none were ever brought up to me (for the whole 15 years), nor was I ever alerted to any policies I could have inadvertently violated there. I had been killing myself to actually get to his office once every 6 months or so -- which for me has meant, almost never seeing people, talking out loud, or doing anything in-between, so at the expense of all else simply because of not having homebound access to medical practitioners here in W. Mass. -- but then in his second termination letters sent with my medical records (again, no warning) he cited that I didn't get to enough appointments for him to continue treating me. Severe patients understand what a big deal it was for me to get to his office at all.
Frankly, I think being put on this panel fueled his ego and it became so inflated (thinking he's on the level of someone like Ron Davis, which he's not) that it led to this sudden act of cruelty as he became so overwhelmed with patients due to the general desperation around finding any doctor here with *any* awareness regarding Lyme or ME. I used to think he was a nice guy too, and I honestly felt like we had a positive working relationship until his bizarre and senseless cruelty toward me, but the ableism and cruelty I ultimately experienced there because I'm one of the few mostly homebound-bedbound patients truly blew my mind, and the only reason for him acting this way with me -- from his termination letters -- was simply that I'm very sick and my case is very complicated. His former business partner, Dr. Elson, never dumped me, and simply retired -- but for decades they have been the only ME/CFS-treating clinic in this part of the state, and notably, Dr. Lynch seemingly barred me from seeing all practitioners there now (honestly, the only explanation I have gotten is that my case was too complicated and thus made him "uncomfortable," and he has cited persistent discomfort that was never reflected in five years of medical notes from him, so he never brought it up). I'm really terrified for my life here now, due to the lack of medical access. Janet DaFoe, since you posted here, I just want you to know that if it were your son seeing Dr. Lynch, he would likely get dumped by this man (if not for the fact that Dr. Lynch seemingly got an ego boost and a big head from being put on this panel with your lovely husband). Now another very ill patient (me, also a long-time activist in the ME/CFS community) is fearing for her life in W. Mass., because of the patient abandonment from this guy, and I'm completely stuck in a place now with zero available ME doctors.
I would like to hear from other ME/CFS patients with similar experiences at Northampton Integrative Medicine (formerly Northampton Wellness Associates) or who have had negative experiences with ME/CFS via practitioners or hospitals in Massachusetts more generally.
