Thanks for this timely post. I am fairly confident refusing to be weighed contributed to being discharged by my primary care provider (a nurse practitioner) last month.
In the 18mos or so that I’d been seeing her, I used my wheelchair, and was never asked to weigh in, presumably because her only scale was a small bathroom scale. At my first appt, I was asked if I knew my weight, and when I said no, the assistant said no problem and that only happened one other time (when the NP’s son was filling in and he clearly had zero medical training, but he accepted my “I don’t know” with a raised eyebrow and moved on).
At my last appt, I walked instead of wheeling because I got close parking. A different assistant was there and tried to weigh me. I said “no thank you” and headed to the exam room. She got VISIBLY angry, and said “you have to.” I said “no i do not. Patients always have the right to informed consent and refusal.” She said “[provider] requires all patients to be weighed.” I said “you’ve never asked before, when I used my wheelchair,” and she said “well we can’t accommodate wheelchairs on the scale.” (LOL, nice admission of ADA violations.) anyway, the assistant was like red-faced with anger at this point, so I just said three more times “patients always have the right to informed refusal” and asked what exam room we were going to.
Then she took my actual vitals, but they use an electronic cuff that’s always too small and reads too high. I’ve always asked for manual BP reads, but when I asked this time, she got angry all over again and said the manual cuff is in another room. I tried to be cheerful and say that was fine, I don’t mind waiting, but she said it’s the room with another patient and she can’t interrupt the NP to get it. I said that was fine and I could wait again. The assistant ROLLED HER EYES but took my pulse and blood oxygen readings, and left. (No one took my BP that day.)
I got a certified letter a week later dated the day after that appointment, discharging me for “care and treatment differences.”
I had been planning on leaving for awhile now, it just takes awhile to get back into the community clinic, so I was biding my time. I’ve never been fired by a provider before! I had already lost my trust in her but I feel like she abused her power, and that stress has had a negative impact on my health.
I requested my records from her and found FOUR incorrect diagnostic codes had been added to my chart in a day I didn’t even have an appointment. (Wildly incorrect codes. Like dementia— shit we’ve never discussed ever.) So I had to send her a letter requesting a correction, and I have no idea what kind of impact those diagnostic codes will have on my insurance, or if she’ll even remove them. Which is just adding to my stress.
I am shocked at how many providers do not understand patients’ basic rights.
This is absolutely awful. Firing patients because they want ethical, evidence-based treatment is a serious ethical issue. If there is anything I can do to support you, please just let me know.
This is so awful! I am also in awe of how well you advocated for yourself through both the push to get weighed and also to working to fix the incorrect diagnostic codes being added to your paperwork (such incompetence on their end!!) I guess this is a case of the trash taking itself out in that you already knew they weren’t worth trusting to your health anymore, but still infuriating.
I literally didn’t go to my OBGYN annual visit last year because I knew my weight had restored after eating significantly less the previous year when grieving the death of my uncle and grandmother in an 18 month period. I finally got it scheduled for next month.
I picked my OB from a referral from my SIL- he was Iranian-American, Duke grad and I liked the rapport he had with both me and my husband. He had a very soothing presence throughout both my high risk pregnancies. But as with any thin medical practitioner I always brace myself for a lecture even though he never really commented on my weight at all.
This post is excellent. I mean all of your posts are excellent, and this one gave such a valuable message. It’s not just about being weighed/not weighed. It’s also about how care providers speak about the scale. And this one talked about the benefits of losing weight before going to the dr! So many folks say they won’t go to the dr until they are thinner. And this isn’t a metric for health! Thank you for sharing this story.
Thanks for this timely post. I am fairly confident refusing to be weighed contributed to being discharged by my primary care provider (a nurse practitioner) last month.
In the 18mos or so that I’d been seeing her, I used my wheelchair, and was never asked to weigh in, presumably because her only scale was a small bathroom scale. At my first appt, I was asked if I knew my weight, and when I said no, the assistant said no problem and that only happened one other time (when the NP’s son was filling in and he clearly had zero medical training, but he accepted my “I don’t know” with a raised eyebrow and moved on).
At my last appt, I walked instead of wheeling because I got close parking. A different assistant was there and tried to weigh me. I said “no thank you” and headed to the exam room. She got VISIBLY angry, and said “you have to.” I said “no i do not. Patients always have the right to informed consent and refusal.” She said “[provider] requires all patients to be weighed.” I said “you’ve never asked before, when I used my wheelchair,” and she said “well we can’t accommodate wheelchairs on the scale.” (LOL, nice admission of ADA violations.) anyway, the assistant was like red-faced with anger at this point, so I just said three more times “patients always have the right to informed refusal” and asked what exam room we were going to.
Then she took my actual vitals, but they use an electronic cuff that’s always too small and reads too high. I’ve always asked for manual BP reads, but when I asked this time, she got angry all over again and said the manual cuff is in another room. I tried to be cheerful and say that was fine, I don’t mind waiting, but she said it’s the room with another patient and she can’t interrupt the NP to get it. I said that was fine and I could wait again. The assistant ROLLED HER EYES but took my pulse and blood oxygen readings, and left. (No one took my BP that day.)
I got a certified letter a week later dated the day after that appointment, discharging me for “care and treatment differences.”
I had been planning on leaving for awhile now, it just takes awhile to get back into the community clinic, so I was biding my time. I’ve never been fired by a provider before! I had already lost my trust in her but I feel like she abused her power, and that stress has had a negative impact on my health.
I requested my records from her and found FOUR incorrect diagnostic codes had been added to my chart in a day I didn’t even have an appointment. (Wildly incorrect codes. Like dementia— shit we’ve never discussed ever.) So I had to send her a letter requesting a correction, and I have no idea what kind of impact those diagnostic codes will have on my insurance, or if she’ll even remove them. Which is just adding to my stress.
I am shocked at how many providers do not understand patients’ basic rights.
This is absolutely awful. Firing patients because they want ethical, evidence-based treatment is a serious ethical issue. If there is anything I can do to support you, please just let me know.
This is so awful! I am also in awe of how well you advocated for yourself through both the push to get weighed and also to working to fix the incorrect diagnostic codes being added to your paperwork (such incompetence on their end!!) I guess this is a case of the trash taking itself out in that you already knew they weren’t worth trusting to your health anymore, but still infuriating.
You are well rid of her.
I literally didn’t go to my OBGYN annual visit last year because I knew my weight had restored after eating significantly less the previous year when grieving the death of my uncle and grandmother in an 18 month period. I finally got it scheduled for next month.
I picked my OB from a referral from my SIL- he was Iranian-American, Duke grad and I liked the rapport he had with both me and my husband. He had a very soothing presence throughout both my high risk pregnancies. But as with any thin medical practitioner I always brace myself for a lecture even though he never really commented on my weight at all.
This post is excellent. I mean all of your posts are excellent, and this one gave such a valuable message. It’s not just about being weighed/not weighed. It’s also about how care providers speak about the scale. And this one talked about the benefits of losing weight before going to the dr! So many folks say they won’t go to the dr until they are thinner. And this isn’t a metric for health! Thank you for sharing this story.