What is the most unprofessional thing a medical person has ever said or done to you?

There were two times; once when I was eighteen and the second at around 27. Both (male) doctors made a comment regarding my body. The first was during my first ever breast exam. The second was during a GYN exam. Neither comment was medical-related. It was awkward, or worse. In hindsight, I wish a nurse had been in the examining room.

This is the first time I have ever talked about it.

Jesus @Pied_Pfeffer. I am so sorry. Assholes.

I had a doctor and her staff treat me like a bum just because I didn’t have health insurance.

When my Dad was in the hospital for the last time, I heard an LPN outside his room saying, “I don’t want to go in there, he’s crazy and his wife is even worse.” Then she came in, told him he was stinky and grabbed his arm so hard it hurt him. I told her he had nueropathy and sent her out.

@Dutchess_III Thanks for the sympathy. The shock is long gone, and it hasn’t deterred me from going to other male physicians. Exam procedures have changed since both of those took place, at least here in the US.

A doctor would seriously think twice these days before doing such a thing @Pied_Pfeffer. The consequences are far more severe today, and it’s about time.

There are too many to count. Seriously. It’s hard to say which one is worse because it all depends on you how you measure it. Here’s a short list.

Last Christmas I had an an allergic reaction to the fragrance my husband’s emergency room nurse was wearing. He (hubby’s nurse) took my asthma attack as a personal affront.

Age 19: I was told I was faking my symptoms. By the time they admitted me to the hospital I was given a 50/50 chance of survival.

My fiancée had just had stomach surgery and his nurse insisted that he “log roll” out of bed. He was screaming. I kicked her butt out and made sure she never took care of him the rest of the time he was in the hospital.

At different times doctors have tried scare tactics:

A gynecologist told me, “You’ll never be able to give birth vaginally,” I went on to have five children vaginally, with no problems whatsoever. I can only speculate that he was looking to make more money by charging me for a caesarean surgery.

Another gynecologist implied I had cancer. I did the research and discovered that the stats for my condition being cancer was in the 3% range.

Another doctor thought I was mentally ill because I came in with a written list of things I wanted to talk about. I was paying out of pocket for a full hour of her time. Apparently she thought I should remember everything without writing anything down. She was a a 3 alarm jerk.

A distant relative admitted they (nurses & staff) sometimes take pics of the most gnarly stuff and look at them together away from the patient. I found it pretty unprofessional and violation of privacy.

I had a checkup performed by a younger female doctor and she said “You’re 26 gets old and in good health… you can check your balls yourself.”

I thought it was funny and I laughed, but her comment was still wildly unprofessional.

“You’re 26 Years Old” is what I meant to type

I too, have had several.

MD who told me I was pregnant, upon learning I was not married, “You should have an abortion, spare the baby and yourself.”

While active duty, Navy, doc told me to quit being a baby and go back to work. Turned out I had a tubal pregnancy which ruptured about three hours later. Fortunately someone else intervened, so I was entering surgery when the rupture happened, because if it happened anywhere besides in the hospital, I would have died.

There are more.
Here’s one which was involuntary. When I was a teen, I went to Planned Parenthood for an exam. They use interns a lot. There I was, waiting, and he walked in. He looked where the sheet was pulled up and his face turned bright red. He was so embarrassed, and apologized.

I’ve dealt with an ectopic pregnancy. That’s some scary stuff man.

I asked my sister this question. She said that in 1982, she was in a serious car accident while two months pregnant with her first child. A doctor did an examination and told her that he had no idea if the fetus was still alive and that it may be months before anyone knows.

She called our other sister, who told her to do the five hour’s drive our hometown to see her pediatrician. She did. The doctor told her that there was a strong heartbeat. Apparently, the equipment to test for a heartbeat wasn’t available in the pregnant sister’s area at the time.

Oh, Jesus. My daughter once had a doctor casually tell her, “You probably have uterine cancer,” then promptly went on Christmas break for three weeks. She had to wait all that time to get the test results back, all that time thinking she was going to die.

One GYN (man) insisted I do an internal when I was there for a second opinion about a cyst in my breast, and I had just had my yearly appointment a month before with my regular doctor, and I did say I didn’t see a reason to do that, but I did it at his insistence.

Another doctor 20 years later, looked down my pants and started to feel down past the waistline when I came in about a rash on my face and chest. I told him I had nothing on my stomach or lower when he first lifted my shirt, and then when he went for the waist of my pants I moved away.

Idiots.

It’s all in your head. No, it wasn’t

Assistant laughing because they couldn’t find my testicles on a scanner.

Ultra-sound.

About a little over 3 years ago, when I was like 22, I went to the dentist for the first time in a long while. I was excited to finally get a cleaning because I had gone years without one. Around this time, I needed help getting my wisdom teeth out too. I felt so responsible, and quite excited because I had Medicaid so I wouldn’t have to worry about the money.

I went to just about the first dentist I found on my then provider’s network online, as nearby as possible. I still live in the same upper middle class town now, and this office was in the nearby mostly lower income town. My brother had good experiences with a different nearby dentist, so I didn’t think much of it.

The office was located inside another doctor’s office (past reception, for a pediatrician possibly?), and it was really small and sketch looking. There was a banner with my then provider’s name behind their reception, which was weird. The stressed looking male receptionist sighed every time he answered a phone call, which was another bad sign to me.

I had only made an appointment to get a cleaning, and I wasn’t familiar with consultations or anything, so this was my only goal. I trusted the dentist would lead the way and communicate with me appropriately. Man was I wrong. I only remember being sat down on the only sketch looking chair, with a defunct light overhead, and being worked on immediately. I was worried something was wrong but couldn’t bring myself to speak up.

Bitch, at the end of the ordeal, I slowly realized the dentist had put a filling in EVERY one of my teeth. Afterwards, I remember I couldn’t even clench my teeth without feeling the fillings sticking out of my teeth. I was in shock afterward, but realized that the MF was probably a scammer. I am not a person who would need every single tooth filled like that. But it happened. Not sure what damage was really done bc I haven’t gone back to another dentist, out of fear/embarrassment. Still wish I had sued or something, not sure if he still works there. My shock just never led me back. But i’ll have to go somewhere else sometime this year eventually if I want to have healthy teeth (different insurance tho). Thanks for reading

The women in my girlfriend’s family all get breast cancer. In her early 50’s she had her breasts removed to avoid the cancer. In her mid 60’s she felt a lump. She called to get an appointment, they told her 6 weeks for the next appointment. She left a message for the doctor to squeeze her in sooner, he didn’t.

Finally, she goes for her appointment, she’s examined, a test or two—breast cancer.

The doctor said to her, “I guess I should listen to you next time, you obviously know your body.”

I have lots of examples like that myself, but mine wasn’t so life threatening. She basically lives with the cancer.

@moisdawg Yup. Had that happen too. My “dentist” (a loose term), hollowed all 4 of my back molars. I had no cavities there, but he made them so he could fill them. I’ve had expensive dental work on them ever since.

I remember being startled at the time that he had bragged about his brand new (and very expensive) dental chair. I think he was using me to help pay it off.

Grrrrr.

@moisdawg Wow, what a horror story! Please don’t be embarrassed, it wasn’t you fault. Just tell them to fix you and move on. So sorry that happened!

@snowberry LMAO incredible, next time one of them whoevers want to do some of that BS on me, I will go piranha on them and remind them to please do their jobs.

@KNOWITALL Thanks! Yeah, it’s been pretty traumatic, but I’m mostly over it and I will find the right doctor soon!