Showing the Patient the Door, Permanently

[flashl]

It wasn’t the boy I had a problem with. It was his mother.

We had met a few months earlier, when I gave her 14-year-old son a diagnosis of mild asthma. I didn’t mind her tough questions, but her tone of voice put me on edge. She seemed suspicious, almost angry. Still, in the end I decided she was just a smart, assertive parent, and I let it go.

...

I have had my share of difficult patients and parents. But putting up with this lady had taken more time than it was worth, and it interfered with my taking care of her son. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it again.

I considered my options. I could be stoic, do my job and keep the boy in my practice. I could call his mother and ask her to keep her opinions to herself so I could focus on her son, though my instincts told me that this wouldn’t stop her. Finally, I could decline to see her son, and therefore her, ever again. In other words, fire my patient.


NY Times

[Celebration]

1. pretty interesting

Doctors are under too much stress these days to be forced to care for any patient that can find care elsewhere. We only heard one side of the story here, but from this doctor's perspective, the mother was rude.

I wasn't completely unsympathetic to the mother. A new doctor's note every single year to participate in sports seems a little much to me, though I certainly would not have accused the doctor of collusion with the school (yikes).

Anyway, I was totally with the doctor until he said he was considering telling the patient's new doctor what a pain the mom was. Huh? Well, that didn't happen, but how could he even consider it? That is just nuts. And, it may tell us something about this particular doctor.

This doctor and patient were better off separating.

[nodehopper]

2. that mother sounds like a moron.

"I don’t believe in preventive care,” she said. “I’ll treat him for tetanus if he needs it.”"