Unethical Doctor
Dr. Noel Goldthwaite, a doctor with the SpineCare clinic in Daly City, refused to treat me today because I am fat.
WARNING: If you write to tell me why I should lose weight or what your special solution is to losing weight or anything related to that, I will unfriend you. It is NOT appropriate and will not be tolerated. You'll see why if you keep reading.
He said that he would not treat me until I reach my "ideal" weight. (By whose standards?) He will not prescribe steroid injections to reduce the nerve irritation in my back, caused by my herniated L5-S1 disc which was caused by degenerative disc disease, a genetic condition unrelated to weight. He refused to discuss new surgeries with me and said that there was absolutely no surgery that would help me unless I lose weight.
I told him that I know that my weight puts extra pressure on my back; I told him that I have been trying to lose weight and have not been successful. I also told him that I was not coming to him to discuss my weight-loss needs, just my spine, and he refused to discuss anything but weight loss. He did, grudgingly, write me a prescription for physical therapy. He is not allowing me to see the other doctors in the SpineCare practice.
The session was quite argumentative. He was sarcastic and aggressive and just plain mean.
I've never been openly discriminated against because of my weight. It's a new experience for me. I realize that many other people throughout history have faced much harsher discrimination far more often. That helps, but it doesn't change the pain that comes with it.
I had a nervous breakdown once I got to rlpowell's car. I've never experienced anything like that breakdown. Thank God Robin was with me.
I've taken a large dose of my anti-anxiety medication, which is the only reason I am able to write this.
Dr. Goldthwaite knows NOTHING about my other health conditions. He knows nothing about what I've done to try to lose weight and what I am currently doing. He knows nothing about the many restrictions my other health issues impose on the task. To name one, I cannot do Atkins or a low-carb diet because I have polycystic kidney disease. He is a mother-fucking asshole who has been completely brainwashed into the religion of Atkins (he, by the way, has not lost any weight since the last time I saw him, and he has been quite evangelical at past appointments about the fact that he's on Atkins and thinks it is the answer to everything). He knows NOTHING about me. He cannot possibly accurately judge how I should lose weight nor the way that various diets interfere with my other health conditions.
I have NEVER run into anything this egregious in the medical field. Far lower levels of discrimination, of course, but nothing like this blatant disregard for ethics.
He promised that he would write, in his dictation for today's appointment, that he is refusing to treat me because I'm fat. I will take that document and send it to the AMA and the ADA along with my own documentation of what happened in the session (which I will tackle as soon as I post this).
You might argue that he's not refusing to treat me because I'm fat, that he just refuses to treat me until I lose the weight. That's the same thing. If I was able to lose weight until I was my "ideal" weight (and those guidelines vary widely) and I lost the weight at a "reasonable" rate (I don't know what that is, but I believe it's around 5 pounds a month--and no, I don't want to hear anyone's correction to that), it would be several years before I could be treated. I cannot work because of my injury. We brought that up. He said that he would not treat me anyway, that what I have to do is lose the weight.
I have to go write this up while it's fresh. Luckily Robin can help me remember it, because I'm sure a lot of it is lost to pure shock.
I'm trying to remember that this doesn't change who I am, it doesn't change what I know about how my body works and what changes I need to do to my nutritional intake and exercise within my health issues, and it doesn't change that there are people who like me just as I am, big fat woman and all.
I do have a call in to my therapist.
This is all more upsetting than it might be because I'm having new problems in my upper back and neck. I keep having alarming pains when I turn my head just slightly that make me think that a disc is about to herniate near my neck, and I can't imagine how bad life will be if I can't lift my head. I was terrified enough of this appointment just about the new injuries without having to face this. (I knew I'd face some trouble, which is why I brought Robin with me.)
Advice about how and to whom to report his behavior is appreciated. Sympathy is appreciated. Advice about how to lose the weight will be deleted and, as warned above, the advisor will be unfriended. If you feel that I am being unwise, or disagree with what I am feeling about this incident, please keep it to yourself.
Thanks for listening. Thanks a lot. I'm realizing just how important LJ is to me. This is a good way to let my friends and lovers know what's happening without having to go back through it, and it is a good way to express my outrage and my grief.
WARNING: If you write to tell me why I should lose weight or what your special solution is to losing weight or anything related to that, I will unfriend you. It is NOT appropriate and will not be tolerated. You'll see why if you keep reading.
He said that he would not treat me until I reach my "ideal" weight. (By whose standards?) He will not prescribe steroid injections to reduce the nerve irritation in my back, caused by my herniated L5-S1 disc which was caused by degenerative disc disease, a genetic condition unrelated to weight. He refused to discuss new surgeries with me and said that there was absolutely no surgery that would help me unless I lose weight.
I told him that I know that my weight puts extra pressure on my back; I told him that I have been trying to lose weight and have not been successful. I also told him that I was not coming to him to discuss my weight-loss needs, just my spine, and he refused to discuss anything but weight loss. He did, grudgingly, write me a prescription for physical therapy. He is not allowing me to see the other doctors in the SpineCare practice.
The session was quite argumentative. He was sarcastic and aggressive and just plain mean.
I've never been openly discriminated against because of my weight. It's a new experience for me. I realize that many other people throughout history have faced much harsher discrimination far more often. That helps, but it doesn't change the pain that comes with it.
I had a nervous breakdown once I got to rlpowell's car. I've never experienced anything like that breakdown. Thank God Robin was with me.
I've taken a large dose of my anti-anxiety medication, which is the only reason I am able to write this.
Dr. Goldthwaite knows NOTHING about my other health conditions. He knows nothing about what I've done to try to lose weight and what I am currently doing. He knows nothing about the many restrictions my other health issues impose on the task. To name one, I cannot do Atkins or a low-carb diet because I have polycystic kidney disease. He is a mother-fucking asshole who has been completely brainwashed into the religion of Atkins (he, by the way, has not lost any weight since the last time I saw him, and he has been quite evangelical at past appointments about the fact that he's on Atkins and thinks it is the answer to everything). He knows NOTHING about me. He cannot possibly accurately judge how I should lose weight nor the way that various diets interfere with my other health conditions.
I have NEVER run into anything this egregious in the medical field. Far lower levels of discrimination, of course, but nothing like this blatant disregard for ethics.
He promised that he would write, in his dictation for today's appointment, that he is refusing to treat me because I'm fat. I will take that document and send it to the AMA and the ADA along with my own documentation of what happened in the session (which I will tackle as soon as I post this).
You might argue that he's not refusing to treat me because I'm fat, that he just refuses to treat me until I lose the weight. That's the same thing. If I was able to lose weight until I was my "ideal" weight (and those guidelines vary widely) and I lost the weight at a "reasonable" rate (I don't know what that is, but I believe it's around 5 pounds a month--and no, I don't want to hear anyone's correction to that), it would be several years before I could be treated. I cannot work because of my injury. We brought that up. He said that he would not treat me anyway, that what I have to do is lose the weight.
I have to go write this up while it's fresh. Luckily Robin can help me remember it, because I'm sure a lot of it is lost to pure shock.
I'm trying to remember that this doesn't change who I am, it doesn't change what I know about how my body works and what changes I need to do to my nutritional intake and exercise within my health issues, and it doesn't change that there are people who like me just as I am, big fat woman and all.
I do have a call in to my therapist.
This is all more upsetting than it might be because I'm having new problems in my upper back and neck. I keep having alarming pains when I turn my head just slightly that make me think that a disc is about to herniate near my neck, and I can't imagine how bad life will be if I can't lift my head. I was terrified enough of this appointment just about the new injuries without having to face this. (I knew I'd face some trouble, which is why I brought Robin with me.)
Advice about how and to whom to report his behavior is appreciated. Sympathy is appreciated. Advice about how to lose the weight will be deleted and, as warned above, the advisor will be unfriended. If you feel that I am being unwise, or disagree with what I am feeling about this incident, please keep it to yourself.
Thanks for listening. Thanks a lot. I'm realizing just how important LJ is to me. This is a good way to let my friends and lovers know what's happening without having to go back through it, and it is a good way to express my outrage and my grief.