Medical misrepresentation (Vent)

susiestar

Roll With It
I am very upset. My mom told me about a medical practice that treated my exSIL after her car wreck. I called the number for the practice.

I asked what they treated, what type or types of doctors they had in the practice and what certifications the doctors had. I was very specific in what I needed.

Today husband drove me to the doctor. The ONLY doctor they have is a chiropractor. He tried to insist that I needed new Xrays on his machine, as it is so new and wonderful. The Xrays I have are less than a month old and I also had my MRI's with me. I had BOTH the Xray films and MRI films with me.

He seemed dazed or stoned. Kept asking if I had ever had surgery on my spine. I gave him the same answer 4 times. Then I told him to read the chart.

He did not look at my films, he called the desk to have them make an appointment on a different day with another doctor. At no point was I asked if I wanted this appointment.

Then he said ABC would be in to give me some therapy, just "sit tight". I asked what type of therapy. He said to just lie there and let her do the work. I asked what she would be doing. He left. I looked around the room for a few minutes and thought about things. I remembered talking with ABC before he came in - she is still getting her Associates degree, and from what he said she would not be supervised during the "therapy".

Then I saw a brochure about psychiatric disorders and chiropractic. It claimed that they have a 75% CURE rate for autism and bipolar disorders, even higher in children with these - all through spinal manipulation!!!!

I got up, got my films and purse, and left. We did pay the $40 copay, but I will be asking for that back.

I am going to have the steroid injection and then see what we see.

ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!

Chiropractic can do a lot, but it is not a cure-all miracle. And people who will mess with my poor neck right now need to KNOW what they are doing.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Susie
 
Oh man. Good for you for walking out of there. I would be in a towering rage too. Hope you set the state medical certification board on them.
 

tired Cheryl

New Member
Yikes!

Very scary. Glad that you got out of there before he laid a finger on you.

My poor sister was convinced by a chiropractor that he could adjust her 12 month old son's spine in such a way that his undescended testicle would descend. Well after coming to her senses she had surgical correction on a testicle that ended up being in her son's abdomen not in his groin area like the doctors had been telling her all along.
There was no amount of spinal manipulation that was going to move that testicle from his abdomen down to the proper location!

Sorry that you had such a disappointing experience. Hope that the steroid injection helps.

Cheryl
 

goldenguru

Active Member
True story.

Years ago my dad fell off a ladder at work. He was hurt considerably. He went to his chiropractor (Dad was a firm believer in chiropractic medicine). The 'doctor' performed his manipulations and sent him home to bed. Within a few days my dad was much worse ... we called an ambulance.

Long story short, my dad had a broken back. He spent weeks in the hospital in traction. He's fortunate that he recovered.

I know some people really believe in chiropractic practices. But, once must proceed with caution in my humble opinion. I'm sorry ... but a chiropractor can not cure mental illness. Shoot ... traditional medicine can't 'cure' it for that matter.

You were very wise to walk out.
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
Glad you left. That was wise.

I have used chiros in the past. Some are excellent. I've never met one who thought they could cure autism or bipolar! What a crock!
 

susiestar

Roll With It
He was not in tie dye, but he did have sandals and scrubs on. And long scraggly greasy hair.


I have a perfectly wonderful chiro who KNOWS the limitations, and is very realistic about what can be done. He is very anti-surgery, and very highly recommended by the ortho docs and the regular docs in our town. This chiro looked at my MRI and told me not to come in. He said that he can't fix it and it needs surgery. So that is what we are doing.

I am glad y'all understood how upset I was. I will be mailing a complaint to them and asking my insurance to decertify them.

Susie
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Ogggggah chucka ohhhhhga chucka....
Rin Rinny Rinny Tinny tin tin -nonney nonney boo boo boogity boggity BAM
ALL THE PEOPLE CHANT.....FEEEEEEL BETTER BEEEEE THE SPINE.
(office music sampler)

ROFLMAO at the sandals, greasy hair - maybe he was dressing for Halloween?

YOU WERE ONE WISE MOMMA TO hike it out of there.

GOOD ON YA!
 
Susie,

How horrible!!! Like the others already said, I'm so glad you got out of there ASAP!!! I would definitely file a complaint!!! :grrr: And, make sure you get your money back!!! WFEN
 

susiestar

Roll With It
I spoke with the "office manager" today. She is NOT the one who I spoke to when I made the appointment. She denied everything and said they will sue if I make a complaint.

HA! I lived with a violent difficult child, nothin she can do is gonna upset me like that!

I just emailed the licensing board and better business bureau. Will be sending complaints out by certified mail tomorrow. Also called my insurance co!!! They were angry!!!

Susie
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I'm sure glad you got out of there when you did! The "doctor" sounds like he was stoned!

I have never been to a chiropractor but I have no problem with them as long as they stick to what they are qualified to do, but some of them don't. I've heard them claim to be able to diagnose and treat all kinds of things - including some that could be symptoms of serious disease (impending heart attack!) that should be checked out by a "real" doctor. When I worked for a newspaper years ago, we had some who were advertisers, and I asked one of them about it. According to him, the patient should come to him first and let him check them out, then if he felt it was something that he couldn't handle, HE would refer you on to an MD! Yeah, right!

I'll never forget visiting our old neighborhood with one of my cousins and asking her about what was now a vacant lot where an old house used to be when we were kids. She said the house had been empty for several years and then torn down. Before that, it had been a thriving chiropractic office for years with dozens of patients coming in every day, before they finally figured out what the "doctor" was doing! Turns out, he only had ONE old X-Ray that showed the spine of a person who had a serious degenerative disease. And he had an old inoperative X-Ray machine - it didn't work but lights still came on and it made noises. New patients would come in and he would go through the motions of "X-Raying" them with his (non-working) machine. He'd wait a few minutes, then whip out his ONE X-Ray and proceed to show them what terrible shape "their" spine was in! But they were in luck, because if they came in three or four times a week for "treatments" and "adjustments", he could fix them up good as new! He did this for years and made a ton of money, in his little office that was directly across the street from the local police station! When they finally caught on, he was arrested, went on trial, and ended up doing several years in prison!
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
I'm glad you sent something to the better business bureau. They have an entire department dedicated to scrutinizing every last dust particle in a docs office if they deem necessary. I was going to tell you to send something to them.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I spoke with the "office manager" today. She is NOT the one who I spoke to when I made the appointment. She denied everything and said they will sue if I make a complaint.


Good grief. This whole practice should be shut down.

These kinds of people make me sick. Especially since my husband is a chiro and works his tail off to really help people.

Can't believe that story about the lights and the nonfunctioning Xray equip!!! Argh.

It truly does sound like this guy is stoned. Greasy hair and sandals, indeed!
(Just for the record, my husband wears a suit and tie.)

Do you have any idea where he got his license? Was it on his wall? Some schools are more reputable than others, obviously.

You cannot do therapy, by the way, with-o a diagnosis and clearly, that chiro didn't give you a diagnosis. He just walked away. What a loser.

:future:

 

susiestar

Roll With It
Terry,

There were diagrams of the body on the walls, but NO diplomas in sight. I always look for them.

I also have never seen a chiro who wore scrubs, they have all worn suit pants and shirts and ties (well, Dockers and polo shirts on Fridays in one practice!).

I truly think he did not know how to interpret an Xray of ANYTHING.

Thanks for the support. I got an email from the licensing board that I need specific paperwork. I sent them my addy and got another email that the paperwork is going out today.

Rest assured, I will NOT forget to fill out the paperwork. I agree that the practice needs to be shut down.

Susie
 
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