Seeking advice...

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 2:06 pm

O.K. here's what happened to us today...

I finally got Tom an appointment with a doctor on our insurance (Cigna - good stuff). Anyway, since he's been on indigent care at the health department for almost two years, with minimal improvement in his condition (O.C.D., Dissociative disorder, generalized anxiety, agoraphobia, et. al.), we were really looking forward to getting some better quality care, a referral to a new shrink and/or therapist, and most importantly, to discuss his chronic lower back pain (which I suspect is a kidney issue).

Now, he HATES going to new places, and especially HATES anything medical in nature, so it was a difficult drive over & wait for the doctor. We told the nurse what his condition was BRIEFLY, and she said the doctor wouyld be in shortly. 45 minutes later, the office manager comes in & says that she's sorry, but DR. JEFF DRINNON doesn't feel comfortable taking Tom's case!!! :evil:

The only thing that saved them from having a VERY pissed off Mo go off on them was the fact that Tom was freaking out & needed to get the F**k out of there.

The only thing they had done medically was to check his B.P. (a particularly strong phobia of his concerns anything associated with blood pressure). So Tom gets it in his head that his BP was way too high, and the doctor is refusing to see him because Tom's going to die any minute.

GGGGGRRRRRRRRR..............

Can I get some feedback up in here? I've never even heard of a physian refusing to even meet a patient, let alone having his office manager come in and do his dirty work for him. Is this lawsuit material, or should we just get over it?

Do doctors not want to see sick people with good insurance anymore???? :-?

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 2:07 pm

Oh yeah, I also was curious if anybody knows of a decent medical professional who would take Tom's case. Any recommendations?

vicious_blood · Post by **vicious_blood** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 2:39 pm

OMG Mother Mo!!! I used to work at that Summitt and Dr. Drinnen is an asshole and the office manager is an even bigger asshole. Her name is Mavis Bailey. She fired me for absolue=tely no FUCKING REASON. I wish I could have heard of this sooner and I would have told you NOT to go there. I fell so bad for both of you. That is lawsuit material. What is Tom's condition (if you don't mind me asking) that they wouldn't see him???
I hate that place with a fucking passion. I would have gone off on them.
I would suggest maybe trying to see if Dr. John Burkhart over there will take him (he is the only one I would recommend over there, and hopefully he is still like I remember him). If it's a condition that has to do with mental or emotional or anxiety issues...I would recommend Dr. Kelley Walker at the Center for Family Psychiatry on Kingston Pike. Otherwise, I dunno.
What's weird about all this is I now work at Cherokee Health at the Health Dept.
But, yeah. Call Summit's main office and throw a bitch fit. But DO NOT talk to Leanne Rorke...she's an uber-bitch too. And I am soooo sorry.

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 3:50 pm

Cherokee Health is who has been helping Tom, Dr. Freeman, to be exact. They've promised all along to help Tom get TennCare & disability, but nearly two years later, we still are no closer to either.

I had been seeing Dr, Rosine at Summit Medical, but I'm reconsidering that choice now. She has always been great with me, but once a place gets on my shit list, I can't give them any more revenue.

They didn't give a reason for not providing service. All they said was that Dr. Drinnon wasn't comfortable with taking the case.

We can't go to the Kingston Pike place because of Tom's issues with riding in a car for more than a very few minutes. He prefers to stick to places closer to home, so if you know any other North Knox locations for non-crack pot doc's, let me know.

Thanks for the input! We both appreciate it.

vicious_blood · Post by **vicious_blood** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 4:11 pm

Dr. Rosine was cool but I heard that place was makin here psycho or something after I left. Dr. Freeman is good. We have a new case manager here now (the other one that was prolly working with you guys was a flakey pot head) and she is really good. She might be more helpful to you than the last one. Also, you might have been over the guidelines for Tenncare or something but you all should come back in and re-apply...also, Cherokee has psychiatrist in North Knox on Emory Road. And one closer to the Health Dept that also provides medical and behavorial.
I hope you find something.
That's so weird that Dr. Drinnen wouldn't see him. I think Summit has turned into big snobs...esp. the FountainCity one...they are the most electronically advanced clinic in Summit and they think they are the shit or something.

JaNell · Post by **JaNell** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 4:24 pm

Anxiety disorders suck.

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 5:39 pm

I logged on to the state's web site and printed out a medical licensing complaint form. I'm going to fill it out & send it in. I called a lawyer & they're supposed to call tomorrow.

I also called Cigna to let them recommend some psychiatrists by location, so we could find some other local choices. Has anyone heard of the Alternative Counseling Center on Essary Road? They gave a name for that one, someone at St. Mary's, and a few others.

I tried calling Summit's office & they would only let me leave a voice mail message for the manager (the same bitch from before). I asked her to please return my call & explain to me why Dr. Drinnon felt compelled to reject my husband as a patient.

Tomorrow's shaping up to be a swell day already! :-?

iblis · Post by **iblis** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:04 pm

While I have no recommendations, I do have to say that's sincerely fucked up.

Good luck finding a decent doctor.

vicious_blood · Post by **vicious_blood** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 8:10 am

Yeah, let me know what goes on. There has been so many complaints about that certain Summit Office that it's not even funny.
St. Mary's works closely with Summit, so I don;t know if thats a good thing or not.
I can almost garantee (sp?) that the manager won't call you back. And if for some reason she does, she'll just bull-shit around with ya.
But, yeah, I would really like to know what happens.

jenna · Post by **jenna** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 12:16 pm

Refusing to treat a patient in and of itself is not reason for a lawsuit. (At least not a sucessful one) From what other people have said, it may very well be that this Dr. is an ass and was refusing to treat for lousy reasons, in which case you may have some grounds for a lawsuit. However, refusing to treat someone could actually be a sign of a very good Dr. i would much rather have someone say that they can't treat me and send me elsewhere, as opposed to having someone attempt to treat me for something that they didn't know anything about and end up causing even more damage. (When my OBGyn. refused to keep seeing me yesterday and referred me to the high risk pregnancy center i was quite happy that he did so, because now we'll be going to somewhere better equipped to help)

What i would suggest doing is calling the Dr.'s office that refused to treat Tom. See if they will be helpful in providing a referral to someone that can help him. If they are, could be that they had his best interests in mind by not treating him. If they won't help with that, it makes them look even worse, and then you just have all the more material to pass onto a lawyer for a potential lawsuit.

Best of luck!

jjenisis · Post by **jjenisis** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 12:38 pm

I don't know anything about the legal side of all that but I go to Dr. Amy Bently.. for my anxiety and depression she is an internalist. She has been very patient and takes time to listen not just to send me out the door overmedicated. I have been with her for 3 years now and have had nothing but good experiences with her.

Good Luck

vicious_blood · Post by **vicious_blood** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 12:57 pm

Well, I dunno, but from what Mother Mo said I thought he wouldn't even come into the exam room to see them, let alone treat him.

Dr. Bentley is good. I think she is in the professional building at St. Mary's also a part of Summit. I go there, too. But to Dr. Lorino. He's ok, but I have heard really good stuff about Dr. Bentley.

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 7:04 pm

No, there was no explanation given. The doctor sent his office manager to do his dirty work. No referrals to anyone else were offered, no reason for his decision except that he wasn't "comfortable" taking the case.

The important thing here is that the doctor understand that HE DID HARM. The situation could have been handled so much better. He should have come to us in person, explained himself & his reasons for declining to take the patient, & offered us other choices for the kind of care we were seeking. I wasn't asking him to be a shrink, merely to refer us to one. We also needed some things of a more physiological nature addressed, such as his high blood pressure. If the doctor was worried that he couldn't meet our needs, he should have simply said so, rather than citing his comfort level as an issue.

His actions, or lack thereof, caused his would-be patient great distress, including an extreme panic attack. Tom is even more worried about his physical state than ever, & I have to keep reassuring him that he wasn't turned away due to his impending death. Such treatment was inhumane, unprofessional, & rude.

I called their main office, & complained to Summit Medical themselves. I'm waiting to hear back from a lawyer, & I've filed a complaint with the licensing board. Even if there's nothing illegal about the way he handled the situation, the man must be made aware that it was still wrong. His future patients deserve better treatment than what he provided us. His office manager needs to learn better customer service skills & diplomacy. I don't think these things are too much to ask.

I don't know, maybe I'm too demanding, though. I just can't allow my loved ones to be treated so rudely & not say or do something in response.

Please keep the referrals coming for good psychiatrists any of you may know. I appreciate all the input more than you know.

Love,
Mo