Im so sick of doctors who dont listen and insist they are right and you are wrong (x-rays, pain)
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Well today I had the displeasure of getting a dr who does not listen again !! what is it with drs who dont listen .. I had a dr prescribe some med that cost 134 .00 after being repeatedly told I did not have medical insurance and would have to pay for meds out of pocket .. I told the pharmacy to forget it and she said are you sure ? yeah , what would you suggest since I dont have medical insurance ? LOL !!! I am so disgusted with drs who dont listen and insist whatever they do is right and we the patient are wrong .. You almost have to be your own dr anymore and research everything and i do mean everything .. I wont be going back to this dr ... she does xray and then goes from there Im so tired of being a guinea pig and a guessing game to the drs . I need answers not oh lets guess at this and try one med at a time UGH !!! Has anyone else had this expierience ?
Well today I had the displeasure of getting a dr who does not listen again !! what is it with drs who dont listen .. I had a dr prescribe some med that cost 134 .00 after being repeatedly told I did not have medical insurance and would have to pay for meds out of pocket .. I told the pharmacy to forget it and she said are you sure ? yeah , what would you suggest since I dont have medical insurance ? LOL !!! I am so disgusted with drs who dont listen and insist whatever they do is right and we the patient are wrong .. You almost have to be your own dr anymore and research everything and i do mean everything .. I wont be going back to this dr ... she does xray and then goes from there Im so tired of being a guinea pig and a guessing game to the drs . I need answers not oh lets guess at this and try one med at a time UGH !!! Has anyone else had this expierience ?
It's hard to follow what you're trying to say, but I'll try and decipher it:
You were told (by whom?) repeatedly, that you don't have medical insurance.
A doctor prescribed medicine that she felt you needed.
The medicine costs $134 out of pocket.
You then went to the pharmacy, and told the pharmacy not to fill the prescription.
When they expressed concern, you returned the comment that you don't have insurance and asked them for alternatives.
I'm not seeing how this relates, at all, to the topic "doctors who don't listen."
What does the doctor think you're wrong about? What do you think the doctor wasn't hearing?
Why did you need an x-ray? And what was the prescription for?
In most cases, the practice of human medicine is a matter of ruling out the obvious. A rash between the thighs on a hot humid day in an obese patient is -probably- heat-rash. Apply a little salve, and if it doesn't go away, THEN you start doing some testing to see if it's something else.
That's how medicine works. Rule out the obvious, before wasting money, energy, time, and suffering, on anything else. You start simple and work your way up to complex. A cold sore is a cold sore, UNTIL there's a reason for the doctor to suspect it isn't. A phantom pain in the arm, is x-rayed, and if there's no sign of broken bones, you assume it's inflammation, take an anti-inflammatory, and if it doesn't work, THEN you go for further testing.
What were you expecting the doctor to do? Wave her magic wand and tell you what you have, and then wave the wand again and heal you, at no charge?
If you know what was wrong and what to do about it, why did you bother going to the doctor at all?
Your post really doesn't make sense. Try waiting til you're not so emotional, and repost from a more calm and reasonable perspective.
Try typing what you want to let the doctor know. I do this with my symptoms and anything else I feel is key information to the problem. When you got to the pharmacy, did you ask if they had a generic version of this medication or if there was something similiar that was cheaper? Some pharmacies can call the doctor and ask if he could change the prescription to something you can afford. If you don't have insurance, where did you go for these test and prescription? Was it a free health clinic? A charity hospital?
Ohhh I get it now. The doctor was repeatedly told that you don't have insurance.
Well I'm sure the doctor knew that, it'd be right in your file, because the doctor has to get paid somehow for your visit, and her office would need to know who to send the bill (or who to collect the money from if it's a pay-as-you-go situation).
Unless you mean that you have medical insurance, but you don't have a prescription rider.
In which case, you really - REALLY - need to look over your posts before you hit the enter button.
Regardless - your ability to pay for something, is not what determines what is the most appropriate medicine for you. A doctor isn't going to prescribe a $5.00 bottle of aspirin for a poor person with cancer. Conversely, a rich person with a cold isn't going to be put on $4,000/week chemo treatments.
Doctors prescribe what they believe to be the most appropriate thing for their patients. Now, what they think is the most appropriate, isn't always, and sometimes things turn out to be different at the end, than they were when they begun. But at the moment that doctor prescribes something, he/she is doing what he/she believes is the most appropriate thing, at the time. The cost has *nothing* to do with it.
Well today I had the displeasure of getting a dr who does not listen again !! what is it with drs who dont listen .. I had a dr prescribe some med that cost 134 .00 after being repeatedly told I did not have medical insurance and would have to pay for meds out of pocket .. I told the pharmacy to forget it and she said are you sure ? yeah , what would you suggest since I dont have medical insurance ? LOL !!! I am so disgusted with drs who dont listen and insist whatever they do is right and we the patient are wrong .. You almost have to be your own dr anymore and research everything and i do mean everything .. I wont be going back to this dr ... she does xray and then goes from there Im so tired of being a guinea pig and a guessing game to the drs . I need answers not oh lets guess at this and try one med at a time UGH !!! Has anyone else had this expierience ?
I have amazing doctors, so no complaints from me. They were all instrumental in saving my life about 3 years ago. I was diagnosed with an upper thoracic aneurysm that was close to 6 centimeters in size and had done significant damage to a heart valve. Did they listen..absolutely I made sure they heard every last thing I said. Sometimes you have to be insistent and repeat yourself several times.
With regard to your expensive medication...that happened to me. One of mine was going to cost 145.00 and although we have insurance, I refused to pay that much and the Pharmacist found a generic that is only 45.00. Still a good amount but a far cry from the first quote.
If you are not happy with your physician, then change. Its your body and you are responsible for being sure it is taken care of properly. Any new doctor you go to is going to want you to speak up even if it has to happen several times; tell the doctor how you are feeling..don't mince words or leave things out hoping they will "go away". Had I not had my physical when I did or mentioned a few things to my physician she never would have sent me for X-rays and my aneurysm never would have been found. I was happy to be a Guinea Pig...for sure!!
You know, another thing you can do is reiterate that you do not have Rx coverage and ask if there is a cheaper generic, maybe something comparable or in the same drug class that is on a formulary that you can get for $4 at a lot of participating drugstores. Ask your pharmacist for a copy of the formulary and carry it with you to your physician appointments. Another option is to ask the doctor if there are samples available. There are also drug companies that have a Patient Assistance Program for those unable to afford their medication.
Sometimes if there is something new on the market a physician will prescribe it, but none of them have any clue as to the cost. Viibryd is a new antidepressant, but little did my father know the cost until he got to the pharmacy. Doctors aren't responsible for the cost of medication, nor for knowing the cost. They know after you tell them, but most of them are truly trying their best to treat the illness.
There's a lot of options and it doesn't sound like you've tried them all, but I could be wrong. I will say this - I've worked for physicians for 25 years. They aren't pushing for the drug company, they are pushing for the medication that will best treat your particular condition. Just because they don't agree with what you have decided doesn't mean they're trying to gig you or don't know what they're talking about.
Call the doctor's office back. Tell them you simply cannot afford $134. See what they have to say. It may be whatever was prescribed is very, very necessary and there is no substitute. Then you have to decide if you want to be sick or pay the money - but get all the facts before you decide this doctor is no good.
Try typing what you want to let the doctor know. I do this with my symptoms and anything else I feel is key information to the problem. When you got to the pharmacy, did you ask if they had a generic version of this medication or if there was something similiar that was cheaper? Some pharmacies can call the doctor and ask if he could change the prescription to something you can afford. If you don't have insurance, where did you go for these test and prescription? Was it a free health clinic? A charity hospital?
Excellent advice. That way you're sure the doctor has all the relevant information when making a diagnosis. Some people have "white coat" syndrome and get anxious around or intimidated by doctors and fail to report all the facts. What Sailordave suggests is a great idea!
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