Category: Medicine

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It has come to this. A woman in Florida was in labor. Her doctor advised her that their might be a problem if she decided to have her baby vaginally. They advised a C-section. She wanted to continue with vaginal delivery. In a normal world, the doctors and the woman would make a decision based on the medical circumstances involved. This is far from a normal world and Florida is being pretty much at the center of the weirdness that now revolves around pregnant woman delivering a baby. The woman, while in labor, had to discuss her delivery choices with a judge who then made a decision on how she could proceed.

This type of decision is, even in the days before Roe versus Wade, a medical decision. No ruling from a judge is needed. The woman and the doctor would work it out based on the woman’s circumstances. Why does a judge have to be involved at all?

Well, because now, the fetus, in Florida, has protected rights. In the past, there was an assumption that since the woman wanted the baby and the doctors wanted to deliver a health baby, then everyone involved was working together for this same happy ending. But, because Florida’s abortion laws are so restrictive, doctors now are worried that if something were to go wrong with the delivery, they may be held liable if the baby were to die in the process. Hence a judgement from the courts was required before the doctors would proceed.

This is worrisome for a number of reasons:

  1. The law was intended to protect fetuses from abortion not delivery. This case does not involve abortion in any way, yet the courts were dragged into it because the anti-abortion laws make any tricky delivery suspect. Did the baby die in delivery or was the doctor sneaking in a late-term abortion? If a doctor wants to cover her ass, she will make sure that a judge knows what she is doing and she goes on record with the courts what she is trying to do. Hopefully this will prevent any busybody from claiming otherwise later thus protecting the doctor from future legal hassles but also delaying medical attention to the woman in labor.
  2. Delivering a baby involves a woman’s health. It needs to happen when it needs to happen. Waiting for a court to make a decision on the best way to proceed is ridiculous here. Delaying medical procedures in order to get this decision is criminally stupid because both the mother and the baby are at risk. In this case, the judge decided for the woman with the caveat that the doctors could perform a C section if the vaginal delivery became difficult. This is how the doctor and the patient wanted to proceed in the first place. What possible wisdom did the judge add here that the doctor and the patient hadn’t already discussed?
  3. The doctors were over reacting you say. This should never have happened. Florida’s draconian abortion laws have nothing to do with this case and it was unnecessary for a judge to be notified. Well, probably, but try telling that to doctors who are trying to avoid going to court over their handling of women going through childbirth. Any state with such restrictive laws will have this problem. Better to go to court to check that you are right, then to go to prison if you are wrong.

The irony here is that laws instituted to protect the fetus from abortion are now causing delays in health care that both endangers the mother and the baby. It is also making it more difficult for medical professionals to advise women how to proceed during a difficult delivery. What if the judge makes a decision that the doctor’s and the patient disagrees with? How will the doctors proceed? A certain amount of good faith needs to be given doctors trying to navigate on how to proceed in a difficult situation. Florida’s abortion laws have only created confusion not better health care for pregnant women.

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Why is it that every time I see a new doctor, I have to complete the same questionnaire. This is so irritating. I thought the whole point of having your information on line was every medical professional now has easy access to your data and you won’t need to keep supplying it every time you go to a doctor.

This is not my experience. Every time I walk into a new doctor’s office, I am handed a clipboard with a questionnaire asking for my details. You know name, address, emergency contact, medical history, medications you are taking and why you are visiting the doctor. Yes, I get it that they need to get it right but to see my questionnaire sitting unconsulted on the doctor’s desk while she asks me the same questions yet again is a bit insulting.

Or to have the office hound me with texts and emails too complete the an on line questionnaire before my appointment with the caveat these replies will make it easier and faster for the doctor who is treating me, only to be asked to fill out a paper version of the same questions when I arrive at the doctor’s office.

Sometimes I will be working on the questionnaire and I am called into to see the doctor. I will let the nurse know I haven’t completed the questionnaire yet, only to be told don’t worry about it, she never looks at it in the first place. Then why am I filling it out? Are they giving me busy work to keep me occupied while waiting for the doctor? Quite frankly, I’d rather being perusing the People magazines stacked on the tables than completing yet another form with my medical history.

If I were a smart ass, I would advise them I already given them this information and could they possibly retrieve the data there. Thank God, I am not a smart ass. More of a coward I suppose. I don’t want to look like trouble to the doctor’s front desk staff. They have a lot of power for you, they can offer you an 7:30 AM appointment tomorrow or a 1PM appointment sometime after the first of the year. Neither choice is good. You can keep asking but the choices are never good. Whatever you do keep on the good side of the office staff or else you will never get a decent appointment time.

And keep filling out those damn questionnaires or your chances of seeing the doctor are pretty darn slim.

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Eating fruits and vegetables has been linked to lung cancer.

Well, fuck it. I mean this is it. There is a link to cancer in absolutely everything we do. Might as well eat all the chocolate chip cookies I can get my grubby little paws on then.

What I find irritating about this is I think we humans have deluded ourselves into thinking there is some magic formula that will get us around sickness and death. And Mother Nature, like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick, keeps coming back with her irrefutable answer — fooled you yet again.

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Talking to a doctor’s office, not the doctor, but just the fucking doctor’s office has become nearly impossible.

In late September, I talked with my primary doctor about a skin problem I was having. He advised me to see a dermatologist and referred me to one. I called the dermatologist for an appointment where I was strongly advised to leave a message and that someone from the doctor’s office would call me back. I get an email that very same day saying that someone would investigate (I am assuming whether they take my insurance and they will pay for it) and get back with me. So far, things are going swimmingly.

But then no return phone call for a week. As I was going out of town, I put it on hold, thinking foolishly, that eventually someone would contact me with an appointment. When I returned to San Diego, still having not received a response from the doctor, I called the office to inquire about my appointment. I talked to a nice woman who apologized profusely about the failed response and booked an appointment for me. Success.

A day or so later, I received a phone call from the nice woman telling me that while they took my insurance this year, they weren’t taking it next year. Since it is now mid-October and the soonest they can get me an appointment for was mid-November, they didn’t want to start seeing me as a patient in cases their services were needed into 2026. All vaguely rational sounding, so I went back to my primary physician.

The assistant at my primary physician’s office, who has always been helpful, couldn’t understand why they just didn’t keep the appointment and, if I needed further treatment, refer me another dermatologist in 2026. She said I had a legitimate concern about a growth on my hand and they could, at least, get the ball rolling.

She told me she would take care of it. A day later she calls me back saying that they don’t want me as a patient and she find another dermatologist to look at my hand. She added it might take a little time because she now has to investigate which doctors will take my insurance in both 2025 and 2026. Towards the end October, she finds one.

I got swept up with other events in my life but was finally able to contact the new dermatologist at the beginning of November. A very unhelpful phone tree took the call. The recorded message kept advising me to use the on-line scheduling system. My experience with on-line scheduling has been horrendous. There is no response to my request or a continual back and forth about a suitable date for the appointment.

I opted to stay on the phone line where every so often I was encourage again to use the on line system or leave a message on the recorder and someone would call me back that very same day. My experience with this is I rarely get a call back and, if I do, it is never on the same day. I chose to stay on the line. Fifteen minutes into my wait, I was disconnected. Or I think I was disconnected. I stopped getting the annoying messages about using the on line system and my phone stopped timing how long the phone was. There was just silence which I deduced was a hang up.

I called again but this time I decided to look at the on line system. I completed the form as best I could knowing that there would be a back and forth about the actual appointment. I sent the form in while waiting because what the Hell, I was on hold any way, it was something to fill the time, I got some lunch and, after a half hour on hold, I surrendered. I would just have to trust that the on line system would work.

Later that day, I received a response from their on line system telling me that they were working on scheduling my appointment and I they would confirm an appointment soon. I don’t like the sounds of soon. Soon. That could be any time frame they choose.

So it is approaching the middle of November and I still do not have a scheduled date for someone to look at the growth on my hand. Think about that. A month and half just trying to get a fucking appointment.

Thank God I don’t live in a country with socialized medicine who knows how long I would be waiting for an appointment.