You WILL comply . . . .

[EricKei]

And then I'd given them my last name(s) as: Kane Martin Brent Cudahy Chandler Montgomery Montgomery Chandler Marick Marick Montgomery

...And then you tell them how to pronounce it properly: Throatwobbler Mangrove MacFeaney

[Pagan]

...And then you tell them how to pronounce it properly: Throatwobbler Mangrove MacFeaney

Well, duh. Smith, of course!

[dalesys]

...And then you tell them how to pronounce it properly: Throatwobbler Mangrove MacFeaney

Or Chumly Tolver. Spelled Cholmondeley Talliaferro.

[ArcticChicken]

Or Chumly Tolver. Spelled Cholmondeley Talliaferro.

I'm fond of Cholmondeley Featheringstonehaugh, myselfe (Chumly Fanshaw)

[dalesys]

Or their posteriority, with sass:
Leicester Cholmondeley Featheringstonehaugh Talliaferro, known as Lester, or Les for short.

[Shalom]

"If Niagara Falls had been located in Rhode Island, they'd have pronounced it Niffuls."

-- William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways

[Sapphire Silk]

Update!

Bad news. I got the results of the investigation from CMS.

They said, "We did not confirm a violation of 42 CFR 489.24 or 42 CFR 489.20."

Basically, they're saying they can't prove the hospital did anything wrong.

So I called a medical malpractice attorney I know, and asked him his opinion.

His thought was that while the hospital staff did behave badly, it will be really hard to prove it in court because the courts often follow the "no harm no foul" rule. I wasn't actually harmed, merely aggravated. His suggestion was not to pursue legal action because it would be more expensive than it would be worth to me even if I won.

That's OK, actually. I don't want money from the hospital . . . I want them to change their practices.

So I'm going to send them a very unhappy letter of complaint and see what their risk management does with it from there. My lawyer friend is going to look it over before I send it and help me with language to get their attention.

This sucks though. My lawyer friend thinks the letter will do some good. I'm cynical. I'm not so sure.

We'll see I guess.

[draggar]

It's funny (and sad) how often some hospitals get away with violations and breaking the law.

[thatcrazyredhead]

I'm so sorry that your complaint isn't being upheld.

When I was in high school, I went to a doctor who made me fill out an entire packet of questions that were not medical history or any of her business. The packet had questions about whether anyone in my home consumed alcohol or owned a gun, whether I'd ever had thoughts of suicide, whether any of my friends had ever thought of suicide, my sexual orientation, my friends' sexual orientation, etc. It didn't seem at all relevant to the problem at hand (I was getting very dizzy very often and I wanted to know what was wrong with me) and so I asked her about it. Without even examining me, she decided the problem was in my ears. She smiled sweetly and said, "If we fix what's wrong with your ears, but then you go out and kill yourself, that would be a waste, wouldn't it?" I was 15, maybe 16, and scared that something was very wrong with me, so I let the matter drop. Now I wish I would have flatly refused to fill it out. Where does she get off, asking those kinds of questions?

[Sapphire Silk]

I'm so sorry that your complaint isn't being upheld.

When I was in high school, I went to a doctor who made me fill out an entire packet of questions that were not medical history or any of her business. The packet had questions about whether anyone in my home consumed alcohol or owned a gun, whether I'd ever had thoughts of suicide, whether any of my friends had ever thought of suicide, my sexual orientation, my friends' sexual orientation, etc. It didn't seem at all relevant to the problem at hand (I was getting very dizzy very often and I wanted to know what was wrong with me) and so I asked her about it. Without even examining me, she decided the problem was in my ears. She smiled sweetly and said, "If we fix what's wrong with your ears, but then you go out and kill yourself, that would be a waste, wouldn't it?" I was 15, maybe 16, and scared that something was very wrong with me, so I let the matter drop. Now I wish I would have flatly refused to fill it out. Where does she get off, asking those kinds of questions?

Actually . . . those questions are perfectly appropriate for patients starting with a new physician. They are screening questions that allow physicians to evaluate for risk of a variety of things such as:

Drug or alcohol abuse
Risk of STDs
Risk of pregnancy
Domestic violence
Mental illness
Risk for suicide.

While it may seem intrusive, questions about sexuality tells the physician about your risk for acquiring HIV, or engaging in other risky sexual behaviors (anal sex, for example, carries medical risks).

So your doc was actually doing her job.

She was a bit flippant about answering your question though. She should have just been straightforward about it.

[Nyoibo]

While it may seem intrusive, questions about sexuality tells the physician about your risk for acquiring HIV,

Also higher risk of depression or suicide.

[thatcrazyredhead]

While it may seem intrusive, questions about sexuality tells the physician about your risk for acquiring HIV, or engaging in other risky sexual behaviors (anal sex, for example, carries medical risks).

So your doc was actually doing her job.

I could understand it if I had come in for anything even remotely related to any of those things, but I wasn't. I would stand up from sitting down or lying down and I'd get very dizzy. I never passed out, but I'd have to hold onto something for about 10 to 30 seconds before I could see straight/support myself. That was all I was in there for, not to talk about who owns a gun or who might be gay.

[Pagan]

I would stand up from sitting down or lying down and I'd get very dizzy. I never passed out, but I'd have to hold onto something for about 10 to 30 seconds before I could see straight/support myself. That was all I was in there for, not to talk about who owns a gun or who might be gay.

I've had that for years and years and years! Doesn't always happen when I stand up, but if I've been sitting on the floor or I've squatted down to look at something, it'll happen then.

And, although it's never been diagnosed, I think I have a little bit of vertigo. But, that seems to stem from my allergies. It only seems to flare up in the spring and autumn.

What I've never understood has to do with anything, is when I've gone in for, say, a throat infection and they ask when my last period was? Although it is amusing when they don't look at what Rxs I'm taking (Lybrel) and freak out that I haven't had a period in over a year. And I can't remember exactly when the last one was!

[EricKei]

I could understand it if I had come in for anything even remotely related to any of those things, but I wasn't. I would stand up from sitting down or lying down and I'd get very dizzy. I never passed out, but I'd have to hold onto something for about 10 to 30 seconds before I could see straight/support myself.

If this started happening after beginning to take a new med or meds, as the prescribing doctor about this. If not, bring it up on your next checkup.

I have this problem, but I did not until I began taking meds for high blood pressure and edema. Allowing my pressure to get too LOW, in particular, makes this more likely to happen (at least, in my case -- I carry a portable monitor in my laptop bag), but I have had it happen at random any given time that I stand or sit, especially if I do so too quickly. In my case, at least, it's a know issue with the meds I'm taking.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I had a dentist's office hand me a sheaf of papers to fill out, and I was happy to do so until the questions just got straight up bizarre.

I wrote "Seriously?" in the blank to answer the first one and ignored everything else after that. Handed it back it without even saying anything about it.

Nobody said shit to me about it, either. And it's a good damn thing, too.