34 Times Doctors Crossed Boundaries And Blurted Out The Most Inappropriate Things To Patients
Going to the doctor’s is a sensitive situation to be in. Just think about it: you have a problem, likely a serious one, if you’re going to the doctor’s to begin with, which may or may not be embarrassing, and you would like it to be taken seriously. The last thing you want is an unprofessional doctor doing something that would make you uncomfortable or make matters worse.
Well, unfortunately for these Redditors, they won the unprofessional doctor lottery and had to suffer through it. And then they shared their stories with the rest of the internet.
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My best friend went from an A cup to DDD bra in about a year and was having back problems. She went in for a consult for breast reduction and the (female) doctor said she wouldn’t even consider doing surgery on someone that young (19 at the time) because any decision about her breasts needed to include her future husband (she wasn’t even dating anyone at the time).
Why is a human woman limited to the potential of who she could be with a man? Sickening.
Psychiatrist told me it was all in my head
No f*****g s**t its in my head, that's why I'm seeing you!
When I had my breast reduction due to back pain, the doctor specifically looked at my husband and asked him, 'What size does he want them?' My husband is a very smart man and told him whatever size would make my pain stop
Professionalism among medical specialists is key in and of itself—but even more so in the ever-changing (and rapidly so) climate of the industry. Things like healthcare reforms and cost control pressures are pushing for change within the system, and so the idea of medical staff professionalism is being considered as a factor that could have an impact on improving things.
My son started passing out one time. We took him to the ER via ambulance. Turns out, we think he was choking on a cookie his aunt gave him.
Doctor wanted us to visit a specialist just to make sure his brain was OK, since he was shaking a lot during the episode.
We went to the specialist and he was 90 min late. He came in, was a d**k, and signed off that our son was all good. When we were leaving, his assistant apologized for the waiting and the doc snapped “DONT APOLOGIZE TO THEM, I’m the doctor, they should wait for me and be happy that I showed up.”
I kindly told the doc “f**k off” and went about my business, since I knew I’d never see him again. Be kind to your patients, doc!
When I was 15 my mom took me to the gynecologist. He told me to get on the scale to check my weight. He then looked me up and down and said 'You're underweight, but better stay like that. You're very attractive, it suits you'. At the time I was dealing with an ED and starving myself.
As a father of two daughters fighting with anorexia I have to say that's probably the worst doctor ever
“You’re a Marine, you are supposed to be tough, so quit crying,” said the male doctor with his hand inside of me doing a cervical biopsy.
David Stern, a professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine, has defined professionalism within the context of medicine as including excellence, accountability, altruism and humanism. The Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG) has expanded upon this definition by breaking down humanism into humanitarianism, respect for others, and honor and integrity.
When I was working with mentally and physically disabled children we had this really sweet girl. She was around 10 years old, had down syndrome, was really heavy mentally disabled but one of the happiest human beeings I have ever met.
She became really sick (dont know what it was) and was delivered to a hospital. When I visited her she lost a lot of weight and I asked the Doctor why she gets no artificial feeding. He answered a "normal" Person would get fed but she isnt for "Natural Selection". I was shocked and told the girls mother. She was just sad because it wasnt the first time something like this happened.
A fine example of ableism, I hope the child finally got to see a doctor who had an ounce of integrity. Poor Mum having to repeatedly face that too.
"You're a mom now. Suck it up, buttercup."--said to me by an OB/GYN when I complained of extreme exhaustion and feeling cold all the time after the birth of my son. I was working 40+ hrs a week and my husband was working 60+ hrs, so when I was home, I got stuck with not only taking care of our son but also the majority of the housework, etc. I was so exhausted I couldn't function without a dozen or more cups of coffee a day and no matter what I did, no matter how much I bundled up, I was freezing cold all the time unless I was outside in direct sunlight or under a stream of hot water in the shower. Took me five damn years to figure out that no, feeling that exhausted all the time wasn't normal and that the reason I felt that way and was so damn cold all the time was my thyroid had basically said "Yo, I'm out of here. Peace out, b**ches!". Once I got on medication, I was more or less fine.
"I'm not hurting you."
The dentist had actually been hurting me for about 10 minutes before I started making noise. She perforated an intact tooth.
I've been dealing with dental phobia all my life since my parents sent us to the dentist from hell. They ignored all our complaints about him and the pain he was causing us because he went to the same church as us and he knew he could blow us off as just whiny kids.
Excellence is defined as a physician's obligation to continue to improve their skill set and the quality of care that they offer. It involves following guidelines, effective communication and the proper use of the resources available to them. This can be done in multiple ways, whether on a personal, systematic, or public health level, as long as the education is evidence based.
She asked if I’d ever been pregnant, and when I said no, she *corrected me* and said “not *yet*.” B***h, “no” was a perfectly accurate answer
And I know she was just being sexist but also I really hope that’s how she answers all the time. “You’ve never had bone cancer? Not *yet*.”.
I had really bad acne starting at the age of 8. When I was 13 I went to a dermatologist who recommended I take acutane. For those who don’t know, acutane does help cure acne but has extreme side effects. So much that you have to get your blood tested while on the medicine to make sure it isn’t causing liver damage.
I mentioned to the doctor I was concerned about the side effects. She told me “Well if you don’t take it then you’ll just be ugly forever”
I was so humiliated I ended up taking the medication.
My acne was not cured btw. To be called ugly by a medical professional at the age of 13 was so damaging that even now, well over a decade later, anytime someone says I’m pretty, I replay the moment of being called ugly and find myself incapable of believing I’m anything but hideous.
That is absolutely awful. I have no doubt that you are beautiful. The doctor is the ugly one with an inhumane attitude like that.
Just last year when I was diagnosed with brain cancer. The guy walks into the room to chat about my diagnosis and the first thing out of his mouth was “so, I hear you’ve been talking to another doctor”, all passive/aggressive tone.
Later that morning we met with the other doctor and that afternoon did a pros and cons on our whiteboard and the end result was we immediately ditched doctor A and went with doctor B.
Haven’t regretted the decision one minute.
Anyone not getting a second opinion on a life threatening problem is a fool and the doctor who objects is a greedy quack.
Then there’s accountability, which essentially means that medical staff ought to prioritize the interests of the patients over their own. This would mean that they would assume ownership of patient outcomes and followups, as well as collaboration with other members of their team in an accountable way. Besides that, it’s also about staying true to professional ideals and society.
When I was in college I suddenly started getting nosebleeds everyday. I was concerned about the frequency of the nosebleeds, so I went to the campus health center. Before even examining me, the doctor said it was from the dry air. I told her that I'd never gotten frequent nosebleeds before, and the college was less then an hour away from my hometown so it was in the same climate, but the doctor kept insisting that it was from the dry air. I started to get angry, and she said "I don't have to treat you, so if you don't calm down you'll have to leave." So I reluctantly calmed down and she did a physical exam, but she still insisted that it was from the dry air. Eventually I saw a specialist at a regular doctor's office, and he correctly diagnosed it as being from an enlarged blood vessel which had nothing to do with the dry air. He cauterized it and that stopped the nosebleeds.
“A young girl like yourself shouldn’t be wasting her life being depressed and anxious, you really need to be getting over this by now” This was after I told him I have trouble answering the phone because of social anxiety and he just chuckled and said that statement, made me feel horrible.
I went to a new OB/GYN and she’s examining me and I feel a weird sensation. Not painful, just odd. I said, “What are you doing?” and she replied, “I’m tilting your uterus. Some women find this pleasurable.” I was left wondering if I had been violated in some way so that was the last time I saw her. In the 15 years since (including childbirth) have never had another doctor do that.
Altruism is a strong point to mention as it’s all about advocating for the patients’ interests. And that includes things like end of life care, among other things.
The idea is physicians should in a sense forget themselves and be there for their patients—things like showing respect for their personal and cultural backgrounds and admitting to medical errors despite the embarrassment and other factors.
I had an abscess on my armpit. He refused to put me under to drain it. When the male doctor put the needle in my VERY INFLAMED and red and swollen armpit to provide local numbing I winced in pain and made a sound of discomfort. He said “what? I barely even touched you.” in a very condescending and dismissive tone.
Another time, I got the courage to ask my family doctor to refer me to see a therapist or counsellor in hopes to seek help for my mental health. He told me “no. There is a long waiting list, about 6 months so there isn’t a point. If you need someone to talk to, just talk to me.”.
I would be SOOO tempted to punch them in the face, then go before a judge, and pleading, "Justifiable assault and battery."
'You are just stressed and also overweight. Get fit and go on some nice dates; you're a young woman!' I had gone to this doctor with hair loss, fingernails breaking, joint pain, brain fog, and sudden unexplainable weight gain. It was my thyroid, which needed one single blood test to diagnose. Fun plot twist: I only got the blood test after starving myself for months to get rid of the excess weight. The late diagnosis is causing issues up to today
Had a neurologist tell me, after our first and only office consultation, that I was "suppressing abuse at the hands of my father" and "that I needed to dig into it" I was having vision loss in my right eye, and having tremors on my right side, with loss of feeling on the entire right side of my body. Jokes on him. My dad was never around much when I was growing up. But when he was he was a damn good dad. BTW I changed primary care doctors and was sent to a different neuro who ran several tests, and diagnosed me with complex migraine. I still deal with the vision loss, but now I can "sense" when it's coming.
Another part of being a professional medical specialist is humanitarianism. That means that they are in the service of their patients, irrespective of their insurance status. The key here is to work on the overall health of a society, reducing health disparities. Volunteerism and community health are actually strongly encouraged in that sense.
I work in child protection and I got a report on a kid that was smacked in the face so hard it left a mark. The report came in a couple of days after and still a mark, so I told the caregiver to take him to the pediatrician to be checked out. Doctor calls me and said the kid was misbehaving in the office and he can see why grandpa lost his temper and smacked him. Found out later he also said that to the kid. And he’s not a bad kid, he just has had so much trauma in his life he’s highly reactive and not always in the most appropriate way.
I was looking for a referral to getting my tubes removed, at 32 of age (the minimum age is 30). The doctor looked at me, laughed, and said I am too young to make decisions about my reproduction. I should wait until I meet my future husband, and as I will love him so much, I'll want to "give him everything" including children, and then I would regret my decision.
Oh, and as a result of incorrect food being served at a restaurant I got a bowel obstruction. The pain was so awful that I was brought to the hospital and got a referral to CT-scan. The next doctor took a look at me from the other side of the room, decided that it's nothing, refused to do the scan, and sent me home. Couple of days later another doctor noticed the obstruction had blocked my urinary tracts and caused pyelonephritis, aka my kidneys were inflamed.
I think I need to stop reading these, my blood pressure is going through the roof at the misogyny.
An OBGYN told me at 23 years old (single, student with no job, etc.) that I should hurry to have kids, or it will be too late soon.
And he refused to change my contraception.
It goes without saying that professionalism means respect for others. And it’s not just the patients this time around either, but also respect for the team and one’s own coworkers. It is believed that this is what ultimately helps to ensure a higher level of quality in terms of patient care as it empowers other staff members to express their concerns for the betterment of the team.
As a teenager, I went to get birth control pills from my doctor, and she told me that I should also start taking prenatal vitamins in case something went wrong and I got pregnant anyway. If I'm here for the pill, what makes you think I'd be keeping an accidental pregnancy?
Do you live in Idaho? (Or Kentucky, or Louisiana, or Mississippi or. . .)
Went in for a routine EKG, and the practitioner administering it said “sorry, the machine isn’t working right - if this was your real heartbeat, you wouldn’t be living much longer.”
As we learned minutes later, it was my real heartbeat - just had a lot of asymptomatic skipped beats (PVCs).
Turned out to be a relatively straightforward fix - minor ablation procedure, all good.
But those words echoed in my head every waking second I had for the next 6 weeks while i waited for a cardiology appointment.
The poor practitioner must’ve got a shock and is currently regretting that day
When I went to get my knees checked and the Dr goes " if you weren't over weight they wouldn't hurt" I'm not over weight and she never checked my knees but offered me "diet pills" to help.
Ahh yes, losing weight, the miracle cure for all illnesses…. (yes, there are some conditions losing weight will help of course, but it’s not a panacea for all ills)
The last aspects of professionalism that are also pretty universal among professions are honor and integrity. This means upholding high ethical standards and complying with laws and regulations. While it is tempting to find greater financial opportunities by misrepresenting events when recording patient diagnoses and treatment, that’s not a good tactic in the long run.
Not sure if it was the *most* unprofessional thing but I had a fella recently who was examining my wife (for a possible knee replacement) while I was in the room tell her to "spread your legs like you were having sex."
And this was after bouncing into the room like some damn happy-a*s tweaker when my wife is terrified she'll never walk again.
We're not prudes or anything but we never met the fella before and he's just *assuming* that brusque and irreverent is ok.
Well guess what, Doc?
"there's nothing wrong with you, you're skinny! it's all in your head!"
i'm skinny because i'm allergic to damn near anything i could eat and am in constant pain because of it :).
When my wife had her first post baby appt, they had to check her stitches. My wife asked how it's healing, he said very nice and if she ever wanted to be a labia model, she would make a lot of money.
Just the thing a new mum wants to be thinking about - going back to work! /s
Many agree that one of the best ways of improving professionalism among medical specialists is focusing on education and medical practice. And, hey, if you can measure the progress and actively integrate this into existing processes, it only gets better from there.
My brother took a friend to the hospital who had just broken her arm, exposed bone and all. One doctor came out to see them, looked at the broken arm, and said, 'Eeww!' like she was scared and went back inside. A few minutes later, another doctor came in
He would pinch my stomach and say “you obese!”
I’m a six foot tall man that weighs 180 lbs. So I’m a *little* overweight by medical standards, but holy s**t, Dr. Mang….
You're tired, you can't sleep and can't eat? Just take a vacation.
NEXT!
Great, make sure you put plenty of money on that prescription - enough for me and the family to go somewhere sunny.
So, what are your thoughts on any of this? Do you have some unpleasant stories to share from the doctor’s office? Share them as well as your takes on the whole thing in the comment section below!
And, hey, if you want to read more stories, there’s always more on Bored Panda.
Ok so that family guy bit where the doctor tells him he's fine, just fat? Yeah that.
At the time I actually had bronchitis (as confirmed by a different doctor 2 days later) and this dude seriously goes "I don't see any reason for your cough, you could lose some weight though".
I laughed cuz it was funny, I'm not mad about the fat part, I'm mad that I paid him to not tell me I had bronchitis and give me the prescriptions the other doctor did.
Obesity does not make you cough, so, even if you are stupid enough not to see any reason, there must be one. And it's not related to the patient's weight.
All of my glands were swollen everywhere. The doctor told me it looked like lymphoma and the nurse started crying and gave me a big hug.
Biopsy came back in a week, I was fine, who knows what except an overreactive immune system. My body went back to normal in week or two.
I spent a week ruminating about how to spend the last few months/years of my life. Do not cry and give someone a hug when the tests aren’t in.
While in the Air Force, I went to the base clinic with a cough and fever and was given medicine, I started getting worse with a high fever and rashes and came back. After looking me over, they sent me back into a waiting room full of people not knowing what I had and was it contagious. After a half hour the doctor came out and said to me in front of everyone, "we think you might have meningitis OR second stage syphilis". The clinic emptied out instantly. They then sent me to the Air Force Academy hospital for them to look at my rash because they didn't have a dermatologist. The Academy hospital determined within minutes that I was having a reaction to the medication and I also had pericarditis, inflammation of the lining around my heart. After 2 weeks I was released completely cured..............The military gets a lot of their doctors right out of med school, they can bypass their residency requirements that way.
Told my doctor that my ears had been itching like hell for months, and he told me to just stick my finger in there.
Went in for a vasectomy referral… Was asked 4 times if I needed pills for anything.
Shame how almost every single person was a woman. Doctors really need to believe women more often.
This is why a lot of us turn to alternative therapies. At least those quacks pretend to care. And ironically, are sometimes as effective because they care. I'm saying this with the realization there are charlatans and outright nutjobs in that area
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Worst thing doctor ever told me. Female OB GYN, I was 8 months pregnant and worried that baby didn't move all day. She looked at me stone cold and said "if she didn't move all day, she probably died". I was so horrified I almost passed out, hurried to another doctor who did Ultrasound immediately and said "no, she is fine, she is sleeping, hear the heartbeats". Ironically, he was a male ob gyn and when he saw how distressed I was (and heard what I've been told before) he didn't even want to charge me. Baby is now 22 years old.
I am so sorry, what an absolute c**t that first OB GYN was. Not feeling your baby move for hours on end is among the more horrible things in life. Kudos to the second doctor. I hope the first one got what she deserved.
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My daughter was...blessed by the Breast Fairy. She has a hard time finding bras that fit but they don't trouble her. She saw a Doctor about some gastric issues and he ignored why she had come in and just went on and on about how getting a breast reduction would fix all of her problems. She saw him twice in a month and he didn't address the issue, he just focused on pushing a breast reduction. She ended up in the ER a few weeks after that and the ER Dr. questioned her about the issue, ran tests, and discovered that her Gallbladder was inflamed. She changed Doctors.
Shame how almost every single person was a woman. Doctors really need to believe women more often.
This is why a lot of us turn to alternative therapies. At least those quacks pretend to care. And ironically, are sometimes as effective because they care. I'm saying this with the realization there are charlatans and outright nutjobs in that area
Load More Replies... Worst thing doctor ever told me. Female OB GYN, I was 8 months pregnant and worried that baby didn't move all day. She looked at me stone cold and said "if she didn't move all day, she probably died". I was so horrified I almost passed out, hurried to another doctor who did Ultrasound immediately and said "no, she is fine, she is sleeping, hear the heartbeats". Ironically, he was a male ob gyn and when he saw how distressed I was (and heard what I've been told before) he didn't even want to charge me. Baby is now 22 years old.
I am so sorry, what an absolute c**t that first OB GYN was. Not feeling your baby move for hours on end is among the more horrible things in life. Kudos to the second doctor. I hope the first one got what she deserved.
Load More Replies... My daughter was...blessed by the Breast Fairy. She has a hard time finding bras that fit but they don't trouble her. She saw a Doctor about some gastric issues and he ignored why she had come in and just went on and on about how getting a breast reduction would fix all of her problems. She saw him twice in a month and he didn't address the issue, he just focused on pushing a breast reduction. She ended up in the ER a few weeks after that and the ER Dr. questioned her about the issue, ran tests, and discovered that her Gallbladder was inflamed. She changed Doctors.
