Posted by gabbi-2 on January 19, 2007, at 22:06:12
In reply to Nikki - responsibility/accountability, posted by one woman cine on January 19, 2007, at 8:05:53
> If a patient has symptoms of OD'ing and cannot get in touch with a pdoc, then a normal course of action is to go to the ER - of course I have never heard of not being able to get in touch with a pdoc - they have pagers and numbers to call because if patients cannot get in touch with them and a medical emergency occurs, they can be sued for malpractice.
>I'm only referring to this part of the thread, I have not even read the rest of it : )
But I did want to say that my P.Doc - the only one I could get because of the wait lists, ignored my calls every single one of them, and I was a new patient. I had no history of abusing the phoning privilege I actually felt terrible bothering the receptionist because I knew she was busy and could do nothing but pass on my messages; and my previous P.doc was so comfortable with me he gave me his home phone number, which I never once used.I would call my p'docs office in crisis because she didn't phone my medications in on time, every month I'd get anxious a week before my meds ran out because I knew she wouldn't respond.
Finally I called the mental health office after being without my medication for 5 days,(not from using too much) and even they couldn't get her to call, or refer me to someone who gave a damn.I know Deneb is from Canada and so am I, perhaps the threat of malpractice is not as prevalent here, but a crisis call to a P.Doc, or even a trip to the emergency room after overdosing (years ago) didn't result in anything but a charcoal drink, empty promises of help, which kept me going for a few days, but there was absolutely NO follow up, and no help, though I literally begged for an appointment with anyone, I was so lost.
It's the sad truth. I think a lot of folks assume this mythical "help" is out there, and refuse to believe that it doesn't always exist.I've had people angry with me for not partaking of it, when it couldn't be found, and it was agonizing, I felt let down by everyone.
This is a really sensitive topic for me, and I've already gone on too long, so I'd better quit.
poster:gabbi-2
thread:723690
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20070112/msgs/724251.html