Last night, as I lay awake unable to sleep and caught in a spiral of anxiety (despite the drugs!) the hostile doctor was rather at the forefront.
I don't know if that horrible bitch was a representative sample. The way she talked about 'hospital policy' as if were the word of the Almighty certainly seems to indicate that the hospital does nothing to stop it. (On the other hand, we were back there the next week for tongue-tie-clipping, the ENT was great and very kind, and we were in and out in an hour, which is some kind of record.)
But what terrifies me is the thought of someone so ignorant, and yet so convinced of their own omnipotence, trying to take my choices- my rational, scientific, SAFE choices!- about my child out of my hands. It's unethical and inappropriate unless there is a clear indication that the parent's choices are a serious threat to the child's health. It's doubly inappropriate when talking to a pair of biochemists who actually have sound, evidence-based, well-supported reasons for their choices (like NOT staying in a hospital full of sick people, with their healthy baby). At best, this doctor honestly thinks she knows best and has the duty to take choices out of parents' hands. At worst, she's on a power trip in an environment with no safeguards on her egomania.
We live in a rural area. There are two real hospitals - each 45 minutes away. I'm almost afraid to ever go back to that hospital. The depth of bad in this one bad interaction has poisoned my judgment of the whole hospital's medical competence- which surely isn't fair - but fear is rarely rational.
Can you lodge a formal complaint? It is unlikely to seriously affect the behavior of the doctor in question, but perhaps her superiors will be alerted and more inclined to be watchful. At the very least, if they give you the "hospital policy" line, you can be more justified in your reticence to going back to that hospital (except in a true emergency).
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry the interaction is still keeping you up at night. Or, perhaps that you're thinking about it when you're awake anyway.
I could, but she didn't do anything clinically inappropriate/ malpractice-y. She was just a rude, horrible, disrespectful bitch. She would say she was just trying to follow various academies' recommendations when confronted with a resistant patient, which is true. The fact that she acts like the patient doesn't have the right to consent... is probably why she works in a hospital, where people can't avoid her. Maybe her private practice went bankrupt, you know?
DeleteBlaarg. I am so sorry. I see your point about the complaint, but maybe a letter of some kind? A friend who's a nurse once told me that it's pretty impossible to get rid of the terrible doctors, but every little bit helps, and letters from patients are part of those little bits. And it might be therapeutic for you even if there's no practical effect.
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