The ONLY time I ever threw a patient out of my office...

was when this RW MFer came in to my reception area laughing about John McCain's remark about Chelsea. To say the least, I was not amused...he just thought it was about the greatest thing he'd ever heard and I told him in no uncertain terms that I didn't care about 'patient abandonment' issues, if he didn't apologize to my staff, the people in my waiting room who were forced to listen to this crap, and to me, he could leave. He thought I was bluffing and said, "You wouldn't want to lose me." I suppose he figured that since I tell an occasional off-color joke or two, that I would 'get' the humor. I replied that I had a young daughter who was herself at an awkward age, and that if there is some sick guy who thinks that making fun of children gives him a hard-on, I for one, don't want to be associated with that person in any way, shape, or form. That it was lower than low and had nothing to with 'politics' and had everything to do with perversion.

At which point I took his x-rays, made a copy of his treatment records, handed them to him and said..."Good luck to you." Turned around and walked away. I never saw him again. Of course, the people in the waiting room, not only cheered, but I must have gotten 15 referrals directly from that incident. You can't buy that kind of goodwill.

I will not give an inch this time around...not one. I will concede nothing and in the words of Eliot Ness: "No deals".

Good for you!

That took courage!

Would that there were more like you!

K&R

:patriot:

about chelsea? i've never heard this one before.

...or you can Google it.

I don't want to repeat it, not b/c I'm a prude or an asshole, but I just don't want to be the one to type it under my name.

It's vaguely pornographic...when you read it you'll know what I mean.

I guess I should look for the other thread.

I'm aware of one "joke" McCain made about Chelsea, but it doesn't seem to fit the description people are making here.

Limbaugh, yes. McCain, no.

I remember that McCain fiasco very, very well, and my hat is off to you for doing what you did.

It is exactly that kind of McCain indiscretion that I believe can be used against him to eviscerate any semblance of statesmanship or credibility people believe him to possess.

Thank you for jiggling our memories with this post. McCain has said many moronic things. Perhaps at one time they were amusing to a demented group of people, but they will come back to haunt him 1000X.

:loveya:

Too cool! High five and wootie woot woot!

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the Hippocratic Oath ???????

To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art - if they desire to learn it - without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.

I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.

I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.

I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.

Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.

What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.

If I fulfil this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.

but second of all:

No professional is obliged to treat anyone who is abusive, and even more importantly, as long as a session of treatment(s) has/have not been initiated, and that there is no discrimination as to race, gender, country of origin, or religion, then I or any other professional may refuse to provide services to an individual, and make a referral, if we feel,in our professional opinion, that we cannot provide reasonable care. Period.

If you come into my office and grab my assistant's chest (it happened), you will not be treated here.
Period - feel free to call your lawyer, and I'll call mine. They'll have a talk.

I have too much pride to endure this after nearly 30 years of practice.

Had he been undergoing a course of treatment and you discontinued, you would be in breach of ethics, correct? Surely you would not compromise your ethical code for a patient who said ignorant things.

this was for a recall visit.

New insurance this year. :D

I am certainly happy to try to make a referral, however.

Once we nurses are assigned a patient, he's ours for 12 hours unless we can manipulate him into firing us, and that will mean an incident report and negative brownie points at pay review time. So we kiss his repellent, pustule ridden arse for 12 hours and then refuse his care the next night, simpering that we just didn't click and that his care will be better offered by some other poor victim, preferably one with the next night off.

I've known docs to fire patients for noncompliance. Thanks for firing one for making a hostile office environment for you, your staff, and the other patients.

It's the only way these assholes are EVER going to learn any manners.

obnoxiousness.

Let me just say however, that I have many spirited discussions with my RW patients who actually enjoy coming in for the 'arguments'. We do have fun at times!

"Now open wide while I come at you with the 23 ga. long needle" (normally, we use 30-short).

Just kidding of course...!

mouth. Maybe you as a dentist could help him out in some way. LOL. ;) He drops the F bomb on the senate floor like it's dust off shoes.
BTW, you would still take a patient who happened to be a DU'er if they did not know you were PCIntern, but you just happened to be thier dentist?

but not all that much...

maybe someday someone will surprise me...

:hi:

we got to sedate them.

That helped.

Endo irrigation needle time, not the 30-short ;)

I get the spirited discussions too. It can be fun at times. Can't do it with the hardcore types, though.

In any event, I'll never under stand the folks that want to piss us off before treatment. It's like arguing with the waitress or waiter before getting the food.

:hurts:

Do you think its safe?

Why was he even looking closely enough to judge how pretty she was at the time?

She must have have been all of eleven or twelve at the time. Ewwwww. I just made myself a little sick!

What a wonderful thing to do.:hug:

:thumbsup:

I'm getting ready to enter Physician Assistant school, and I've dealt with enough abusive patients as an M.A. to know what to do as a P.A. I'll treat anybody of any political persuasion, but if they get abusive and ugly, out they'll go.

I used to work for a doctor who was a real far-right right-winger. Oh man, were his politics screwed up! But we got along pretty well, (it helped that he was a very good doctor) and had a good rapport with each other. So I try not to let politics screw up a working relationship. But with people like that guy, what else can you do?

there are Rethugs with whom you can deal, and those with whom you can't. You can tell the difference early in the conversation.

In the old days, we used to be able to have dialogs and there was some, though occasionally less-than-you'd-like-to-have, respect for each other if not for the opinions expressed. The water has been poisoned, however, and as I said in my OP, I'm not taking any prisoners this time out.

I really hope the patient (een though he may have been an a$$hole) did not suffer as a result of your unprofessionalism.

I hope, at some point in your life, you find your point of view diametrically in opposition to someone who provides you with an essential (potentially life-saving) service. I sincerely hope that this person is a little more tolerant and professional than yourself.

It's more than you deserve, however.

I didn't take any 'oath'...maybe in YOUR USA, people will have to take 'oaths' of patriotism and subservience. Second, you did not read or at least you did not comprehend the essence of what I said and wrote. But you know that and are just trying to pick a fight.

Fact is, I an more humanistic, compassionate, caring, helpful, (and of course modest), than almost any other H/C prationer whom I know. I have provided more pro bono services, more free consulations and referrals for the poor, taught for years in two dental schools and assisted the underpriveleged, worked in free screening clinics, and generally given away more services in a year to those in need than you will 'donate' in a lifetime. I have forgotten about more acts of charity than you have ever executed, so don't you dare, dare, attempt to tar me with any of your pseudo-moralistic brush strokes. And please don't bother to tell me what a caring, giving, individual you are. Actions speak much louder than words. I for one, have walked the walk for decades.

The oath I spoke of was the Hippocratic Oath. Only after I posted and I read others' comments did I find out that you were a dentist.

Everything now fits into place. Describing yourself as caring, giving, compassionate, etc., while kicking someone out of your office for being insensitive...Actions speak much louder than words.

Yup - sounds like "walking the walk," to me. A regular paragon of virtue.

Again - I sincerely hope you are confronted by something similar at some point, and I hope THAT HealthCare provider acts in a more professional manner than you have.

And once again, it's much more than you deserve for such childish retribution.

I care what you think.

Anyone who's worked in healthcare knows the story. You're an amateur -and, as far as I'm concerned, deliberately disruptive and unduly sanctimonious. However, you are more than entitled to your opinon.

You're welcome.

Any person who would make the statement that Chelsea is -blank- because blank is her blank, does not deserve 'consideration' imo. Go fight with them, not me.

Good night to you.

in that PCIntern was simply assuring his staff of a safe working environment. Even if he/she were a "real" doctor (sorry PCI) their staff took no such oath and should not be forced to endure such an unpleasant working envrionment (especially since there was no ongoing course of treatment or emergency. I am sure that if the fellow in question had an emergency, PCI would have treated him first, and then kicked him out)

or is your arguement that even in non-emergency situations, a provider cannot refuse to see a patient?

:patriot:

Hubby's had to work with right-wingers and smile and keep on working, regardless of what they're saying. He got into a mini-war in 2004 with one of the partners, a seriously right-wing guy who started it by putting a Bush bumpersticker on Hubby's car. He got the Bush toilet paper in his favorite bathroom for that one (not one patients used). ;)

He's had patients tell him they can't have him as their doctor because he was wearing a Dean pin in his lab coat in 2004, and he has had patients try to convert him back to the Republican side. Most of the time, it's gentle ribbing or a fun debate. When it comes to that kind of stuff, he usually changes the subject. He's staff, so firing a patient is hard for him to do.

You had every right to fire him as a patient. He could've fired you as his dentist, too, if he'd so desired. Instead, you beat him to it and were the better for it.

he served in Viet Nam, and has volunteered his services overseas to the poor.

However, earlier this month, when I was in for an emergency root canal, he confessed that he was a Ron Paul supporter. I just kept my mouth shut (figuratively), and made a non-committal noise. In the 10 years I've seen him, that's the first political comment he'd ever made.

You did a good thing - thanks.

and his political candor. He obviiously felt comfortable with you and that's great. It is a tribute to you, that he chose to quietly speak of his preference. We're human beings too...

Not sure what the "joke" was, but knowing most conservatroids, it was probably offensive on many levels.

Cheers!

were in a position where all they could do was make incoherent noises and then he would make disparaging remarks about the repug candidates and party. But he was good enough that they forgave him and came back anyway. This was a hoot!

She lived in AZ and even though she was never actually a Republican, she admired McCain for some reason.

That little "joke" of his changed her mind permanently.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

Hekate

They've gotten away with way too much for way too long.

I walked in to hear him gloating to his receptionist about President Dumbass's re-election and "getting rid of some useless Democrats". I left and never went back. It felt great!

You don't agree with someone else's opinion so you throw them out on the street? That's pretty awful no matter how much you can condescendingly justify it. So every one of your patients has to be ideologically pure for you to treat them? That's pretty fucking bad. When you taught at dental schools did you say "Class, feel free to deny service to any patient that even slightly disagrees with your outlook on life. Anyone without the opinions of we, the truly enlightened, deserves to suffer."?


The worst part is you might be my dentist because I live in Center City!!!

to spout that stuff in the waiting room (which *is* after all private property). You can think whatever the heck you like, but your words have consequences.

asking someone who insults a child (and Chelsea Clinton was a child at the time) to either apologize or spend his money elsewhere isn't the same thing as insisting that everyone you serve is "ideologically pure" or doesn't even "slightly disagree" with you.

McCain made a very offensive remark about a child in front of other adults for his own self gratification. A girl who is totally blameless was the brunt of an ugly joke told by a man who wants to be the leader of our country. And you're offended by the dentist's actions in his own office? You've got some bizarre priorities. The man retelling the "joke" has a responsibility to behave as a decent person in someone else's office. The dentist had every right to throw the man out. We don't have to tolerate base behavior. There are people with standards. And holding an innocent child up to public ridicule with an ugly slur crosses the line for people who have a moral basis.

:spank:

no oaths were broken or immoral acts committed.

After all, should the OP be forced to treat the guy?




I'm pretty sure that if the guy had rushed in fresh from a bicyle accident, blood and broken teeth filling his mouth, pleading for emergency dental care a mere two hours after the incident, the OP would have treated him.

That's backbone!

You're my new hero this week. :yourock:

PS: I work in my internist's office, so I have that special viewpoint on it.

I for one, would like to stop by your office just to shake your hand :)

Well done PCI :yourock: :pals:

:yourock:

:yourock:

I just got insurance again and need my teeth fixed...too bad you're not in the Phoenix area.

There is a point at which RW behavior is just abusive.
They are bullies and love nothing more than to spread their hate. I guess it makes them feel normal.

Oh, wait. You're in Philadelphia. That'd be an awfully long distance to drive with a toothache.

Best of luck to you and thanks for this story! :hi:

edited for spelling

threads which were started in the past 24 hours.

Great post.:hi:

I'll bet it's not where I live but good for you for doing that!

If only more were like you!

Two weeks ago I visited a dentist to get a second opinion on some dental work I needed done. As I sat with an assistant giving my medical history I noticed two framed pictures of individuals whom I know I had seen before, but couldn't place.

After meeting with the dentist for a period of time, he asked me how I found about about his practice, and I answered "Google." He then asked if I listened to the radio, and I responded that no, not really, I preferred satellite radio. He then became quite animated and told me I should listen to conventional radio, mentioning an FM station in a large metropolitan area. He told me if I really liked politics I should listen to this station, and then went on about how his practice does all the dental/cosmetic work for the on-air personalities.

Bingo! - light bulb goes on. The framed pictures I had seen were of two of the on-air people - two of the worst right wing sloths that one would ever care to meet.

Last night I called his office and told them that I could not in good conscience patronize any business who would find any type of redeeming features in cretins like the "picture boys."

"No deals" indeed.