Doctors who try to rip you off!

March 27, 2008

I am so fed up with doctors, probably for the same reason you all are.

I have had to go to about 4 docs till I found this one in LA, Dr. " X. "

I flew to see him (and racked up major credit card debt to pay for all

this medical care). I think they're very knowledgeable on the

thyroid/adrenal connection, or at least they are compared to my other

docs who dismissed me as crazy when I knew I had hypothyroid (despite

somewhat normal TSH) and adrenal dysfunction.

Anyways, here is my complaint: I am 30 years old, completely broke

(mostly from spending thousands on private practice medical care) and

on medical leave and completely debilitated by my symptoms, so my

employer asked my doctor to write a note stating my medical condition

and estimate for my return to work. I asked Dr. " X " to write this

letter and his office told me I could just write the letter and he

would sign it. So, I wrote the 2 page letter explaining everything,

sent it to his office to get signed. I get a call from doc's office

telling me, Dr " X " has approved your letter but will charge $75 FOR

THE LETTER! HELLO, I WROTE the letter FOR him. He didn't even do

anything but sign it! And on top of this, the letter is REQUIRED by

LAW by my employer to verify my medical leave. Why should I pay my doc

$75 for something they are required to do? Especially when Dr. " X "

charges $495 per visit and even charged me that amount last time for a

20 MINUTE VISIT! Though they are knowledgeable on this area of

medicine, I cannot help but think when doctors are trying to rip you

off, how do I know they're not just treating me on a 'make as much

money as they can' basis? They have their own pharmacy and supplements

which they always tell me to buy, and I don't know any better so I do.

What if my health is not in my doctor's best interest? It just worries

me b/c he has me on all this stuff - supplements, progesterone, etc.,

which I think is great but I worry about their motives.

Any similar stories. Sorry about the rant, but I had to vent!

Fed up with doctors,

Metta

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