Posts by Larry Lewis2

Alright, let's assume we've actually nailed down what the problem is.

So, what kind of solutions are we looking at here?

Eric Wright29 said:If those supposedly "premium" multivitamins are packed with magnesium, you’re going to be spending a lot more time on the toilet than you'd like.

I don't think anyone's having that issue with just 125 mg a day...

What if you just tried stepping away from them for a while to see if anything actually changes? 🙂

placidorca16 said:Yeah, it’s just that in this country, not everyone gets an equal playing field or even a fair shot at fighting back.
.

So, what are we actually going to do about it? Just sit here on a message board, venting our bitterness and cynicism, badmouthing doctors, acting like we're above it all while waiting for someone else to step up and build a functional legal system?

right

melloworca6 said:So, what exactly defines a penalty to you?

placidorca16 said:The legal side usually involves fines, losing your medical license, or even jail time if it hits criminal territory—it all depends on how much damage the chatter actually causes. But personally, I don't think just talking about something is the real issue here. To me, the massive problem is when a doctor fails to act, shows negligence, or provides incorrect treatment.

In my view, the real penalty for breaching patient confidentiality is losing your job and facing a hearing before the medical board.

Instead of just venting bitterness and throwing sharp insults into the void of an online forum, we should be taking actual steps. It’s up to patients to help improve the system by reporting doctors who are truly negligent.

If people are genuinely worried about their medical records, they shouldn't be talking about women going in for routine screenings. We should be talking about patients in the early stages of something like Parkinson's, or those dealing with psychiatric care. If the system leaks sensitive info for those groups, I honestly believe they'll never find employment again.

Those are the real stakes. It's not about who knows which specific test was done or whether someone had an abortion.

If you are proactive enough to take charge of your own health, why does it matter what the gossip in a small town is? If you chose an abortion, that was your decision and you stand by it. Why is there so much resentment over who knows what?

I'm not saying it's ever okay to break the doctor-patient bond, but I find it interesting that no one on this thread seems to be suffering from MS or myasthenia gravis... people whose diagnoses carry a heavy stigma if leaked, which could have devastating consequences for their entire livelihood.

I’ve been thinking—maybe we should just revert to the dark ages of gynecological exams, you know, the kind where you had to stay under a sterile drape that wasn't allowed to move an inch? We could ditch the digital charts entirely and just let every patient tell their doctor whatever they feel like mentioning. 🙂

placidorca16 said:And that is exactly what I wanted to warn everyone about. Misuse is definitely possible.

They absolutely are. Honestly, you can find potential for abuse in pretty much every field of human endeavor. Doctors aren't perfect either—they’re just people, after all. There’s an old Latin proverb that touches on this very idea...

That’s why we need to fight against those instances, but in a constructive way.

The more critical issue, though, is that it's often impossible—or at least incredibly difficult, which can end in tragedy—to properly care for a patient when their medical history isn't complete.

I’m with you on that. Honestly, I think doctors and patients really ought to be working as partners to fight for a patient's health, though that feels increasingly difficult lately given the current state of things and all the pressure from big pharma.

The relationship should be built from the ground up—starting with medical schools teaching doctors the absolute necessity of ethical conduct, and moving toward educating patients so they feel empowered to report any unprofessional behavior through the medical board. It isn't easy for anyone involved. That old-school, patronizing attitude toward patients is dying out, and frankly, it's unacceptable. A doctor’s job should be to guide, educate, and help a patient choose what is truly best for them. But unfortunately, between our lingering patriarchal societal norms and the thousand different bureaucratic headaches a doctor has to juggle—like dealing with the complexities of Medicare or endless federal regulations—making that transition isn't exactly a smooth ride.

Still, I truly believe we can get there. We just need to approach it without bitterness, taking it slow and staying patient... maybe one day we'll actually evolve into having a healthcare model more like Scandinavia's.

Sophia Wells72 said:So, take this specific case:

I honestly didn't realize you hadn't mentioned this before... Back when I used to see my old OBGYN (she was quite the chatterbox, probably just looking for someone to vent to😁), she told me about a woman who literally uses abortion as her primary form of birth control. She’d just show up every single time and be like, "Alright, let's get this over with." Usually, when things follow that pattern, the patient—along with their whole family circle—gets scrutinized by other doctors, or in her case, even a psychiatrist. It's an extreme outlier, obviously, but that's the reality.

But shouldn't that kind of behavior actually trigger some scrutiny? 🤷 An abortion isn't a pleasant experience for anyone involved, whether you're the one undergoing it or the one criticizing it.

Plus, it takes such a massive toll on both the body and the mind. Dealing with repeated uterine scraping and the constant hormonal shifts is incredibly draining... emotionally speaking. If someone is bypassing every available method of contraception and choosing serial abortions as their way to manage fertility, they're behaving self-destructively. There might even be an underlying issue like domestic abuse at play.🤷

placidorca16 said:I mean, if recording it doesn't actually change any laws, why bother documenting an abortion if there weren't even any complications?

Nothing is going to change regarding the legality of the act itself; it’s already happened and it's done. It doesn't change anything for the woman who went through it. Whether it's written in her medical record or not, it doesn't impact her life one bit.

The thing is, complications aren't always immediately obvious. Maybe we should implement some kind of expiration date on those records?☕

Plus, if a doctor is going to make decisions regarding someone's health, they really need to have all the pieces of the puzzle.

Just food for thought here... imagine a patient, let's call her Jane Doe, who has had 15 or 16 abortions. Having that data in her file might be the exact signal her primary care physician needs to suggest seeing a psychologist, or perhaps prompting her OBGYN to talk to her about different types of contraception.
or maybe just don't list the first five?🤔

placidorca16 said:I actually checked with an investigative judge, and they told me nothing like this exists.

Anyone working within the scientific community has access to those databases, for instance.

Honestly, I couldn't care less what you or anyone else thinks about me. And regarding medical malpractice involving someone close to me—well, I wasn't asking for your advice. If things were as simple as you seem to think, we wouldn't be dealing with such a fatal outcome.

That time has passed. The patient is gone.

Regarding the articles, unfortunately, they aren't accurate. It’s a shame they aren't right. 😁 But that isn't really the point of this thread.

It’s perfectly fine if you don't care what people think of you, but this is a public forum, and as such, there are certain norms and standard ways of behaving.

As for medical error—since I have no idea what specifically happened, I haven't offered any advice. I simply suggested that whatever is weighing on your mind, you should resolve it, because keeping it bottled up is clearly hurting your health.

Make a choice: do you want to discuss this or not? If you do, please provide the relevant information needed for a meaningful conversation. If you don't, then don't drag it out.

There is a significant difference between medical malpractice and a complication during treatment. If you’ve already reached out to an investigative judge, the Chamber, and a patient advocacy group, I trust you’ve done everything possible, and if it truly was an error, the perpetrator will face the consequences.

And finally, just a quick tangent for food for thought—I have no intention of getting into a debate about this, nor do I intend to insult anyone or sink to the level of communication I've been seeing in this thread over the last few pages.

No system is perfect. We expect our doctors to be highly educated, 100% infallible, and fully caught up with every new discovery and possibility... yet we restrict their access to scientific journals. Healthcare reform is turning them into administrators who sweat over whether their paycheck will shrink if they prescribe a necessary medication instead of just sticking to a pre-approved list. Our healthcare system is crumbling.

P.S. You aren't the only one who has faced tragedy. Perhaps for some, it is a blessing to know enough to realize that while the doctors did everything they could, the system failed to provide adequate diagnostics and treatment, and by a cruel twist of fate, it was the body itself that eventually gave out...

placidorca16 said:Can you give me an example where a "board of ethics" actually revoked a license because someone leaked confidential patient information?

Maybe I have a reason to be this bitter. Maybe I lost someone very close to me because of doctors.

People act like patients "aren't" experts. But there are incompetent doctors out there too—doctors who misdiagnose or treat people wrongly, and nothing ever happens to them in this country.

Well, you can't always know for sure ahead of time. Sometimes a person just makes a wrong call, and by then, it might already be too late.

I can't. There is such a thing as a code of ethics. You could reach out to the medical board and ask. I believe you'll get some statistical data, though I doubt they'll give you names and surnames.
Or try contacting a patient rights advocacy group.

Look, if you think patients are experts and can connect all the dots based on stuff they find online, then they should just treat themselves.
That’s total nonsense. To truly investigate a modern medical consensus, you need access to databases and peer-reviewed journals that are completely inaccessible to the average layperson unless they want to pay $10 to $40 for every single article. And honestly, those kinds of patients don't really exist. Even if they did, I doubt they'd understand what they're looking at. Sometimes doctors have to read highly technical texts... deciding whether something is relevant depends entirely on how well you know the subject matter and if you can critically evaluate the materials and methods used.

Regardless of whether you have a reason to be bitter or not, communicate it in the context where it originated. Or take actual action regarding it. Just venting like this is rude; it paints a bad picture of you and, more importantly, it isn't constructive for the topic or the discussion.

If you aren't happy with your doctor, you can transfer your medical records. Patients have the right to choose.

But just like a car has a service history, a patient has a medical file. And there's a reason for that.
I wouldn't go to a doctor seeking help without knowing that, besides a subjective history which is often flawed, we are utilizing every possible resource available.

And if someone decides to have a legal medical abortion, that's their business. Doctors aren't there to pass judgment. Whether it's noted in the chart or not, nothing changes.

Regarding abortion, I won’t go into exhaustive detail because I realize there are many different perspectives beyond just the clinical side—and I don't want to lecture anyone on things you likely already know. However, if I were Rh-negative and my partner was Rh-positive, I wouldn't dare go through a pregnancy after an abortion without making sure my doctor was fully informed. Whether we are talking about an abortion that occurred naturally or via D&C, it matters. 🙂

Then again, spontaneous miscarriages can sometimes point toward fetal malformations or perhaps issues with the mother's immune system... though, honestly, it feels to me like the other complications tend to be more significant. And those can leave lasting consequences.

There is also the matter of risk; every single procedure carries its own set of dangers. The human body isn't a math equation where two plus two always equals four. Things can turn fatal or lead to severe complications, even when dealing with procedures that are considered routine or completely harmless, and that's assuming no medical error occurs. You should never take anything in medicine for granted. Even something as simple as a "standard" antibiotic could, through a strange chain of events, trigger something like autoimmune hemolytic anemia if the stars align that way.

placidorca16 said:Well, unfortunately, I’d have to say yes.😢

Sadly, that isn't nearly enough. That actually needs to be proven, which is a whole different ballgame. In situations like this, the medical lobby usually digs its heels in, and things typically just fall through the cracks.

I mean, honestly, who in America has actually lost their medical license for breaching professional confidentiality? Can you point to a single specific case?😕

Have you truly never heard of those cases that dragged all over the news—where fatalities occurred and yet nobody was held accountable? Or what about the settlements won by numerous mothers whose children suffered severe injuries during childbirth? Give me some examples of that.

My advice is simply to act according to their own conscience. I only wanted to warn them that they are under no obligation to share that kind of information with doctors they don't trust.

If there is a breach of medical privacy, a formal complaint should be filed with the State Medical Board. From there, an ethics committee investigates the matter and decides on sanctions.

Rather than just venting bitterness on a forum. 🙂

A patient isn't an expert, so they aren't qualified to judge what belongs in a medical history and what doesn't. By withholding data, they can seriously jeopardize their own care, waste precious time needed for proper treatment, or even lead a doctor down the wrong path. And that would be entirely their own fault.

If they don't trust their doctor, they should just find a new one.

There’s no need to dwell on the negative. You could just try taking another test in about a week, or better yet, make an appointment with your OB-GYN. 🙂 The test reacts to the hormones released during pregnancy, so it’s entirely possible you got a false negative simply because you tested too early—or, of course, if you aren't pregnant. A false positive isn't really a thing here. 🙂

Everything mentioned above sounds like symptoms of a hormonal imbalance.

Could someone please walk me through this?

I just got slapped with a 35-point infraction because of this

The thing is, this is an internal matter. Vixen was appointed as a moderator on a completely different forum, so she doesn't have any authority or connection to the moderation team here on this site.

Thanks, 🙂

don't even bother with those pills🤔

this dump, genius😬 either kill me now or let's just pack up and move to the suburbs😘

At least I actually know how to put one together—a legitimate, high-quality article—and if I could just get my hands on those full-text archives, I’d be diving straight into my PhD 😢

Hang on a second, though. Who is actually publishing this stuff? Isn't it standard practice to provide some kind of fresh scientific insight if you want a top-tier journal to even look at your work? Or am I just being incredibly naive here? 😢

I finished my Master’s, but now I don't have a dime set aside for a PhD.🤷 It’s funny how life works out sometimes—you find yourself wishing you could just swap places with someone else for a moment, just to see what it feels like.😵
Getting through my Master’s thesis was an absolute uphill battle; I struggled so much just trying to access full academic papers. Since I’m not affiliated with a major university, I don't have access to half the databases I actually need.😢 And oh, the things I want to look into!🙂 I had such big dreams of conducting research and writing papers... but reality usually has other plans, doesn't it? 😢

Maybe you’re just burnt out. Sometimes when you're completely overextended, everything starts looking a lot bleaker than it actually is. Or maybe you're hitting that mid-life realization where you feel like you've already hit your ceiling, and it all just piles up at once.🤷

How are things at home? Honestly, grab your partner's hand and just get out of town for the weekend. Or better yet, take some vacation time, head down to Maui, and just focus on being creative. Sketch, paint, do some 3D modeling—just find a way to recharge those batteries.🙂

It feels like everyone is struggling lately. So many people I know are going through their own personal crises right now.