Doctors on the Social Firing Line

A few years ago, I had an experience with a urologist (Dr. Robert Sher of Urological Associates) that made me cringe.

And, no, I don’t mean the exam (though that wasn’t fun).

What I mean is that he suggested that I invest a chunk of money in a supplement which he didn’t disclose he had a financial interest.

That ticked me off.

So, I blogged about it and sent a letter to the Maryland state Board.

They basically told me to go away.

I had essentially forgotten about this incident until last night when Gary commented (3 times) on my blog post and sent me an email.

It seems like he had had an equally unpleasant experience with the physician.

On the one hand, this irritates me (perhaps even more than the original exam itself). That Dr. Robert Sher of Urological Associates continues to seemingly abuse his power and the fact that people, for a long time have simply trusted their physicians.

On the other hand, when I think about how I/we can fight back on something like this—and it’s clear that the “authority” approach of writing to the State Medical Board gets us nowhere, Google serves as the great equalizer.

When Gary commented on my blog, he did so because he found it by searching for Dr. Robert Sher of Urological Associates and my blog turned up on page 1 of the results.

This gives me hope.

As more and more people blog/share their experiences with doctors (at whatever level) AND as people google their physicians before going to them (like people checking each other out on FB or via Google before a first date), the sunlight brought upon these practices will be an equalizer.

It’s true for medicine…and any business.

Caveat Venditor. Let the seller beware.

Sleep Study— Being Watched in Bed

Disclaimer: if “TMI” is something you normally say, then skip this post. I don’t need that comment

Last week’s SnoreGate kicked it off.

Then, over the weekend, I felt some sensitivity in my lower teeth.

Now, I am plagued with periodontal challenges, since this, unfortunately, is nothing new.

As luck would have it, however, I was scheduled for a cleaning at my periodontist who asked me if I had any concerns. I shared them.

“You know, it’s interesting you say that because I was looking at your chart and I am getting a bit worried about the recession on the inside of your front lower teeth. It could be caused by sleep apnea, your tongue pushing forward as a reaction.”

I shared the snoring incident and he said, “you should probably had a sleep study done. Call your insurance company.”

In a once-in-a-thousand years scenario, I got word from CareFirst that I had met the deductible for the year on our Health Savings Account so the study would be covered (who says we need Obamacare?)

Then, as luck would further have it, the hospital 2.7 miles from my house has a sleep center…and they had an opening the following night. The stars were aligned and I scheduled it.

Arrive at 8.30pm

I showed up on time, ready to go. At first, I thought, “for someone who goes to bed at 1.30am often, how am I going to go to sleep that early?” but I did feel tired and sleepy.

It took about an hour to hook up all the wires. Then, got in bed, watched a bit of TV (Kentucky vs. Michigan State), and then read a new book called “Grounded” (written by my cousin) until at 10.30pm, Lucy came in and said, “Ok, time to go to bed.”

I felt like my kids

It was NOT easy or comfortable to sleep (or try to sleep) with wires all over my head, two straps around my chest, and more wires connected to my chest and legs.

There was no clock so I can’t really say for sure, but I think it took about 45 minutes to fall asleep. Maybe the pressure to perform got to me.

I also kept wondering what they were seeing as they were monitoring brain waves as I was having all of these thoughts. Could they read my mind like “the Matrix?” Were different areas of my mind lighting up and they would see “man, that guy needs to think less about work/money/sex/whatever?”

It was like I was trying to read the minds of the people who were reading my mind.

At some point, maybe 2 hours later, my eyes popped open and moments later, Lucy came in (they can monitory my eye movements) and made some adjustments.

I told her I had to go to the bathroom.

Now, I drink a TON of water and eat a lot of fruit. I had also gone for a run at 4pm the previous afternoon and had rehydrated.

Even though she said, “don’t be embarrassed if you need to go to the washroom” and I knew she was a nurse, and I tend not to be embarrassed by these things, I couldn’t help feeling that way, probably because each time I had to, she would have to unhook me. Not looking forward to being in a nursing home.

I came back to the room and, well, nothing. I could NOT fall asleep. I was tired but my mind was racing about all things…being in a sleep study, work, home, life, upcoming travel plans. I kept having the urge to get up and either check my phone or start working, but I couldn’t.

My mouth was dry and I was a bit hot. I only had a bit of water left in my water bottle. I was also pretty hungry.

Then, maybe 90 minutes later (?), I had to go to the bathroom…again. Nerves? I don’t know. I hesitated, since I was tired and I didn’t want to have to ask again, but eventually, I decided it just had to be done.

They had a microphone in the room so I could just talk and they’d hear me (in addition to the night vision camera where they could watch me), so I just said “Lucy, I need to go to the bathroom.”

And like magic, there she was at the door, unhooking me. I asked her the time. She said, “I can’t tell you that.”

The CIA could learn from these guys Very disorienting.

Just kidding, they were nothing but professional.

Honestly, I may have gone to the bathroom a 3rd time…I’m really not sure at this point (I just got home and am blogging this while it’s still fresh and before the kids get up for school) because there were at least a few occasions when Lucy came in to adjust a wire that I had dislodged. It’s like sleeping in a stocking cap…made of metal.

I eventually did fall back asleep, but before I knew it, Lucy was back, telling me it was time to get up. At this point, she told me it as 5.20am and her one question: “Do you usually sleep this little?”

I’m kind of like a camel. I don’t sleep that much during the week, but Friday nights, I’ll go to bed at 8:30pm and sleep until 6:30am.

Anyway, results will come in about a week, I’m told.

The goop in your hair to keep the pads sticky is, well, sticky, and taking those pads off of a hairy chest…very uncomfortable.

Ok, time to go wake the kids and drink some coffee

Thanks for the support.

“They’re not telling anyone.”

I heard some bad news a few weeks ago. Actually, I discovered it by accident, when a friend of mine let it slip that a mutual friend from college had recently been diagnosed with cancer.

“But,” he said, “they’re not telling anyone. In fact, his mom thinks it should be a total secret.”

Now, it’s pretty well known that I don’t mind sharing my medical condition publicly (see here for thyroid cancer story), but I need some of my introvert friends to explain this approach to me.

Assuming that the medical condition is not because of something you did like shoot up heroin with drug addicts in Thailand or whatever and it’s not your fault at all, why keep it a secret?

If it’s not a secret, your friends (whose help you need), can help you.

What’s more, when it’s a secret, people actually talk about it MORE.

When everyone knows, it’s not news anymore.

So, the “we’re not talking about it,” seems like it defeats the purpose of secrecy since everyone kind of knows anyway.

What am I missing here?

Meet Shoulder Bursitis…

In my never-ending quest to provide high-quality personal medical entertainment, herewith is a recent sonogram of my injured rotator cuff muscle.

For the non-physicians, it’s pretty neat…you get to see bursitis up close and personal.

Unfortunately, I can’t mention when it got injured (hem, hem), but suffice it to say, it hasn’t knocked me out.

LIVE Lasik Surgery-Recap

Well, no longer live, as it’s done, but thanks to Dr. Sonny Goel (twitter/FB), I’m now at 20/15 vision and on the road to full recovery. Sonny has, I’m told, performed more Lasik operations than anyone in the entire US…but until now, none of them had been livestreamed!

At one point, we had (I’m told) 35 people watching the livestream of the actual surgery. We also made it a social event, but enabling comments and even fielding questions from the virtual audience.

To get right to the meat of the video, see here. For the full effect, you can watch below or here.

Highly recommend Lasik Plus in Columbia, MD.

 

If you don’t ask…

You never get.

That’s kind of the salesman’s motto, right?

I guess the question is: at what consequence?

The other Monday, my kids didn’t have school (professional day) and I took them to the pediatrician to get their flu shots.

I was promptly told that flu shots were only given on T-F.

“Do you ever make exceptions for your best customers?” I asked.

I mean, we were there already and it was a day off.

The receptionist, a bit grumpily said, “well, if the doctor says it’s ok, it’s ok.”

I went into the business manager’s office. He knows me (after all, I am the mayor.)

I ask him the same question.

He says, “well, it’s fine by me if it’s not too busy.”

It wasn’t.

He went in…next thing I know and there’s a small (but loud) disagreement in the back between the nurses (who apparently didn’t like the change in process) and the business manager.

I have no idea if I am right or not, but afterwards, I feel like we are getting some cold stares from the staff.

And, yes, we got the flu shots.

Was this the right call?

I don’t know.

But, I did use the opportunity to explain to the kids the ideas of “customer service,” “processes,” and “efficiency.”

Blind Trust In Your Doctor…

Image via Wikipedia

I suppose I am naive, but somehow, when it comes to most things medical, I tend to automatically defer to the judgment of a physician.

I should know better, but I tend to think “hey, s/he’s a doctor, I can trust him.”

Well…I don’t think that anymore.

Back on September the 18th, I went to see Dr. Robert Sher of Urological Associates and was diagnosed with prostatitis.

Dr. Sher prescribes me an antibiotic (it cost $130) and tells me to cut back on spicy foods and coffee.

So far, so good.

Then, I had a follow up appointment on October 14th, in which he suggested that I start taking a nutritional supplement called Prostate SR from a company called Theralogix.

He gave me a piece of paper (it kind of looked like a prescription form) with a code on it and said “just make sure to put in this number when you order.”

I didn’t think anything of it (I know, I’m a marketer and I should have) and went ahead and ordered it.

About a week or so later, I asked myself, “why the number?”

I started digging around the Theralogix site and, though I couldn’t get a clear answer from it (and when I called to ask, I felt they were a bit shady about it), got the distinct impression that the code I had received was a way to track commissions and referrals.

As a marketer, that’s what I would do.

Then, I called Urological Associates…four times over the course of a few weeks and asked to speak with the Office Manager, looking for clarity.

Each time, the message was “she’s not available, I will pass it along.”

No one ever called me back.

I kept getting bills from them, but in one of my messages I said, “look, I’m happy, more than happy to pay the bill, but I’d like to get an answer from you about the nature of the relationship between Dr. Sher and Theralogix. I just kind of feel like your incentive to tell me is much higher BEFORE I pay you.”

No one called and, as life goes on, I kind of forgot about it. I got used to ignoring the bill as well.

Then, last week, I get a call from a Collections agency.

That ticks me off big time.

I call the office again and DEMAND to speak to the Office Manager (passing through yet another gatekeeper). She finally calls me back and I explain my concerns.

Two or three days later, Dr. Sher calls me and says, “I’m sorry. I usually tell people that I have a relationship with Theralogix. I guess I was caught up that day.”

I ask about the nature of the relationship. Does he get a commission?

“I make pennies on each order,” he says, “but I’m actually an investor because I believe in the products.”

Now, let me say this… I have NO problem with people referring people and getting commissions or promoting companies in which they believe, but I kind of feel like when those referrals sit at the center of your day to day activities and are based upon the trust that a patient puts in you, you MUST disclose that relationship.

It’s great that he believes in the product and invests in the company, but the fact is, he didn’t tell me.

And, so I wonder: “did I really need it? How do I know if I really needed it?”

He said, “well, you haven’t been back here, so I guessed it is working for you.”

Of course, that’s not the point at all.

The point is…the trust which I had placed in him is now called into question.

Did he prescribe the $130 medication because I needed it or because there was something in it for him?

Interestingly enough, I blogged about an experience in his office where I observed his interaction with a Cialis sales rep.

My first analysis was that she was attempting to manipulate him (see post here: http://jer979.com/igniting-the-revolution/cialis/). Now, I am curious if he knows how to play the game and somehow benefits from all of this.

For all I know, he’s the greatest Urologist of all time. Maybe it was an honest mistake. I really have no way of knowing and the point is NOT to say “he’s evil, this is malpractice.”

But I do know how I feel.

I’m upset that I feel like my trust was taken for granted.

And I’m upset that the Dr. and his staff didn’t seem to take my concerns too seriously.

Bet you don’t know too many….

People who have been diagnosed with Iliac Arteriopathy.

I was talking to my friend and client, Michele Potter, who recently underwent surgery for this problem.

She’s an extreme triathlete and her abdomen muscles had become so tight that it constricted the blood flow through an artery to her legs.

Yeah, that’s a problem we all have.

Should insurance cover IVF?

Image via Wikipedia

I hardly know the ins and outs of the new healthcare bill and don’t plan on reading it in full.

So, all I have to go on is a philosophical leaning about insurance, healthcare, and society.

The primary tension that I see is the needs/desires of the individual with the needs/desires of society.

As I mentioned last week, a lesbian friend of mine visited me with her wife and 2 kids.

Since I’m not shy (I know, hard to believe), I eventually asked “so, do both kids have the same father?”

Each of the women had given birth to one of the kids and, in fact, did have the same biological father.

This led to a fascinating conversation about the economics of sperm donation and banking as well as to the various methods of impregnation.

As I understand it, there’s IUI (which I may have crassly called the ‘turkey baster’ approach) and IVF, which is more complicated and more expensive.

Now, my friends live in Massachusetts and told me that IVF is a part of the state’s health insurance mandated coverage.

If you are visiting this blog for the first time, you probably know by now that I love my kids and I think it is the greatest blessing to ever happen to me (excluding send my first email in ‘91, of course).

Actually, if you are visiting this blog for the first time…what took you so long?

Seriously, kids are awesome. It’s a blessing and the thought that people who want kids couldn’t have them pains me deeply.

On a personal level.

And that’s the tension.

I want my friend and her wife to have the joy of children, but as a society (when you scale it out to hundreds or millions of people), is that where we should be putting our collective healthcare resources?

If the money that goes to cover IVF comes from money that could fund cancer research or prevent heart disease or save a preemie, is it worth it?

If you assume, money is infinite, then no need to comment here, since choices don’t need to be made.

If, however, you believe that the money for expenditures is finite, it’s a challenge.

And that’s where I sit on ALL of these healthcare issues. Until we have some sort of rationing (be it ‘death panels’ or insurance companies denying coverage), I just can’t get my head around paying for all of it without breaking the bank.

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