Posts by Justin Fox

So, here's the long and short of it: if you aren't particularly keen on heading to the specific hospital listed on your referral, you actually have options. You can head to a different facility entirely under Section 43, regardless of which institution is named on the paperwork. The only real downside? You’ll likely lose out on any reimbursement for travel costs or the right to an ambulance service.

Does that old rule about being "assigned" to a specific hospital still hold water? For instance, if you’re living over in Brooklyn, you just automatically "fall into" the Mayo Clinic's care.

What actually happens if you try to head to a different facility? Can they legally turn you away at the door? I'm curious how one ensures they get actual expert care if they simply don't trust the specialists—or even the general staff—at their assigned hospital.

Research like this honestly makes my skin crawl. They claim a 50% reduction in risk, but they conveniently skip over the details—was it because those men were having less sex, or is it actually just because the exposure site is less vulnerable to the virus?
Either way, would you really gamble with HIV if there was a 50% chance of catching it? Instead of fussing about circumcision for people in sub-Saharan Africa, they could have just handed out condoms, which offer over 90% protection.

Jacob Howard2 said:Kids in daycare bite each other, so they don't come home crying to their parents like you do here, 😉

Well, isn't that just brilliant. Do you actually believe it's acceptable for children—or adults, for that matter—to go around biting people?

The whole system needs an overhaul. It’s frankly absurd that we tolerate substandard treatment for a certain percentage of the population. I know there are cases where medicine just reaches its limit, but that's different. What I'm talking about is humanizing healthcare and rooting out medical malpractice once and for all. Doctors need better working conditions, sure, but we also need to implement individual accountability and real oversight.
They can have all the funding in the world, but they have to be responsible for their actions. We need a functional patient feedback loop. If a doctor has a fifty percent dissatisfaction rate among their patients, that’s a massive red flag—it means they need increased scrutiny and, say, some heavy financial disincentives until they get their act together. Let’s be clear: a doctor isn't God, but if they can't treat a patient with basic decency and respect their rights, then they simply aren't fit for the profession.

It seems she didn't bother explaining that harvesting from the hip involves about a hundred needle pricks directly into the bone, leaving that area incredibly tender—painful, really—for a few weeks.
I notice the "renowned" doctor neglected to mention that the procedure leaves permanent scarring on the skin.
She also (wrongly) dismisses the risks of general anesthesia as if they’re negligible.
It feels like she's just painting a rosy picture of the benefits, clouding the reality.
Then there's the fact that the whole thing requires a two-day hospital stay, assuming nothing goes sideways—which is enough to make some people walk away entirely.

I honestly fail to see why doctors would care more about a donor's safety than their own desire to avoid any legal mess or being caught cutting corners.

Breasts are essentially just fatty tissue, and having asymmetrical density is actually pretty common. It could be anything, really. Just go get an ultrasound to be safe, but honestly? Don't let it get to you.

Whatever it is, it’s probably just a false alarm.

quiethound45 said:The most undesirable field right now. The Dean of the medical school expressed serious concern because interest is plummeting, and fewer and fewer young people are choosing this career path...
it’s what that recent newspaper article was getting at—how being a doctor has become one of the most thankless jobs in America 😬

Kudos to the altruistic physicians out there, truly. But let’s be real: the profession is often dominated by corruption and systemic rigidity. Sure, there are plenty of good souls, but I’m convinced there are just as many people with shattered illusions, along with a smaller group of truly corrupt charlatans who ruin the reputation of everyone else. They’re the reason the entire system will eventually have to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Timothy Morgan38 said:It’s not exactly a pleasant exam, but it's hardly the end of the world... it doesn't hurt, it's just uncomfortable....

How does the exam actually work, though? And what exactly makes it so uncomfortable?

Benjamin Murphy2 said:The fact that you two both took such pleasure in twisting my words is incredibly distasteful. I’m certain my mother wouldn't have raised me to act this way.

I've become quite disillusioned with the people on this forum. From now on, I'll be much more careful about what I say.
la la la... flowers everywhere...

Look, if you aren't being unkind to patients, then please accept my apologies for hurting your feelings. I've had some pretty rough experiences with doctors in the past, so whenever I see one now, I instinctively start baring my teeth like a vampire.

Benjamin Murphy2 said:Not at all. Where on earth did I ever claim to have shaken anyone off? Besides, I see no reason to justify myself to people who are just sitting around waiting for any excuse to come after me.

From what I can gather, you didn't explicitly say you turned someone away, but you’re certainly being very forceful about only seeing things from your own perspective. Here’s the thing: people expect you to actually care about their patients. Do you realize that when someone shows up in the middle of the night for an objectively trivial reason, they still need help? They need you to tell them, at the very least, that it isn't a serious emergency.

Part of your job involves knowing how to talk to people—something many of your colleagues seem to completely ignore. That’s why the public throws stones at you and treats the entire medical profession like the enemy. Honestly? You’ve earned it.

northernbear2 said:Alright, I’m starting to worry. Is there any way I can schedule an actual appointment to get checked out? Or am I really fine?😬

Just show up during his on-call hours and ask for a consultation.🙂
Let him convince you that everything is perfectly normal.🙂
And if he turns out to be a jerk,🙂 don't just take it—give him a taste of his own medicine and file a complaint with everyone from the hospital board down to the local news.

Benjamin Murphy2 said:northernbear2, if you honestly can't find anything in your previous posts that warrants an insult from me, then you really ought to start worrying about your mental health.

Is this actually your diagnosis, based on some anonymous forum posts, or just a clumsy attempt to discredit anyone who doesn't agree with you?

Benjamin Murphy2 said:So, Justin Fox, by all means, keep going. Go ahead and fire people based on whatever they happen to post on some internet forum. I’m sure that kind of management style will take you straight to the top. And don't worry—we'll be right there alongside you. 😘

Look, if I were the one calling the shots around here, I’d make sure you all had the best working conditions imaginable. We're talking top-tier resources, decent breaks, the whole nine yards. But there's a line. If people start acting disrespectful toward patients, they’d be out the door before they could even finish their sentence. Simple as that.

northernbear2 said:If your power goes out, you call an electrician. If your house is burning down? You call the fire department, even if it's 2:00 AM. No matter how much they grumble, they’re going to show up and put that damn fire out. It should be the same for people who feel sick. We shouldn't just dismiss them as "hypochondriacs"—and I use that term loosely, because more often than not, something actually *is* wrong.

You've got a point there. Emergency services exist specifically to help those who believe their situation is urgent. Expecting someone to stay calm, swallow their anxiety, and perform their own medical triage just so they don't "bother" some high-and-mighty doctor is frankly disgraceful. A patient isn't a physician; they aren't qualified to diagnose themselves, and honestly, trying to do so usually just discourages people from seeking professional help altogether.

We pay them to be on call. They signed the contracts. So when they act rude or dismissive, how are you supposed to handle it? Get the doctor's name, report them to the hospital administrator, file a complaint with Medicare, and make sure they aren't treated with such arrogance. WebMD, Reddit. Let them deal with the consequences.

To play devil's advocate for the doctors: things can get incredibly tough for them. They should probably be hired in larger numbers so shifts could be shorter, but being overworked isn't an excuse to jeopardize lives or snap at someone who is genuinely terrified. People don't get out of bed in the middle of the night just to mess around. If someone shows up and it turns out to be nothing, fine—send them home with a kind word. A little empathy goes a long way, and it's a sign of basic decency, which, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be the strong suit for many in the medical field.

Benjamin Murphy2 said:Take the argument to DMs and shove that damn coffee, you know! During my shifts, I worked myself to the bone—so hard I couldn't even crawl out of bed the next day, just passing out on the subway ride home. You can take your fancy little latte and shove it, you absolute moron.

That’s what happens when people push my buttons.

And honestly, you earned every bit of that insult since you were the one who started the name-calling in the first place.

The level you're stooping to suggests you're probably arrogant and rude to your patients. People like you need to be kicked out of the healthcare system entirely. Go find some other idiots willing to pay you just to insult them. If you aren't happy with the working conditions, feel free to quit. One fine day, we'll find a way to wipe your kind right out of public service. One day 😠

I can't help but wonder why there are only about six or seven cardiac surgeons left in the entire country. You have to assume it's because they're terrified of any actual competition showing up—because if they had to compete, those massive wait times would vanish and you wouldn't need to drop five grand just to get on a surgical schedule. The system really needs to step up, facilitate training for the next generation, and stop letting these entitled gatekeepers sit on their positions just to block anyone who actually shows promise.

I can't justify making a trip to a urologist for absolutely no reason. Honestly, the whole idea of some guy inspecting or touching my junk just turns me off. I can already see it happening—some doctor starting to fantasize about pushing unnecessary procedures on me just to make a buck (like circumcision, for instance).

How would he even examine me? Just a visual check? Look, whenever I'm faced with a male doctor, my body's reaction is pretty much the exact opposite of an erection, so the guy wouldn't be seeing anything worth noting. Besides, if there were actually an issue, I’d be the first one to notice. So, in short: there's zero value in getting him to look.

Bribery and kickbacks are clearly criminal offenses, but if you ask me, Dr. O. also committed insurance fraud. He essentially robbed his patients. By taking "under-the-table" payments to jump the line, he forced everyone else to wait longer than they should have. That delay directly impacted their health—people suffered, stayed stressed, and dealt with unnecessary anxiety because of him.

They act like they’re running a cutthroat corporation, yet they’re basically coasting on a monopoly. Someone really needs to step in and rein them in.