Should i press a law suit against my doctor ?

BFS

Check with a lawyer to be sure, but I'd guess, considering you voluntarily brought your friend in, that you would more than likely lose your case.

The One

I'm sorry but if you brought someone in the room with you, you gave up the confidentiality. You could talk to an attorney but I believe they will tell you the same thing.

the_emrod

No! What loss have you suffered? None!

Stop being such a baby!

thunder2sys

No. when you decided to bring your friend into the doctor's office you waived the right of the priveldge in the room. Doctor should have exercised restraint and asked you if you wanted to discuss in front of your friend, but that was poor judgement, not a reason to be sued..../

BehindBlueEyes

No. You should have left you friend in the waiting room if you wanted anything or everything to remain between you and your doctor. I don't think any attorney would take the case and file a lawsuit since you brought your friend into the room with you.

girlluvspule

If you brought your friend with you that means your comfortable with him being there and hearing what is said, otherwise why would you bring them into the room with you, I don't think you could sue for that, if you wanted privacy you should have expressed that right away by saying to your friend, please stay outside while I speak to my doctor in private.

WereTurtle

Anything for a buck, eh?

It is people like you who clog up the court system and cause medical malpractice insurance costs to go through the roof.

Susie D

You brought a second party into the exam room with you - implied consent. If you never want your information ever discussed in front of others - then don't bring them in the examination room.

Peter J

You can sue for anything, but that doesn't mean it's legit.

I think you would be foolish to do more than ask your doctor to be a little more discrete next time please.

lucy lou

Your a drama queen. You make up needless drama--just to make some kind of point so that you can be rude back to people. Get a education, grow-up and who on earth would invite a friend to an OBYN visit-someone that's pretty damm weird---starting to sound a little fishy to me--that your setting up the doc for a lawsuit

airbob61@verizon.net

Perhaps some assumptions were made about your friend. If your friend was a male, perhaps she assumed that he was your husband and confidant. If you still believe that confidentially has been breached you might be better off if you filed a compliant with your state's medical board regarding a breach of the canons on ethics.

Missy M

Okay, wait... YOU brought a friend and YOU let your friend come into the examining room... and you want to sue the DOCTOR? NO. Whoever you bring INTO THE ROOM is going to hear what the doctor has to say. It's not like visitors in a hospital room. It was the exam room.

ally

WHAT!? you took a friend to an obgyn appointment, not just appt. a checkup from another appointment?, and expected the doctor to think there was something that should be hidden between you two? Why on earth would you do that? I don't really know what information you're referring to here, but if it was something irrelevant like something you had just told her, then you need to watch what you say to just anyone. Otherwise, if you're having relations with this guy and you have something your doctor has ever right to tell him, I figure...I think it's a law, aside from aids that's illegal to expose.

Jules Mudkip

yes, and also, is some child happens to make noise in a cinema, you should burn the orphanage.

second option: tell him you found it rude. he will likely apologise

vivayvida

Confidentiality is hard to sue for and you probably signed a paper that waived your rights to confidentiality if the doctor needed to call you to tell you your results. Since you brought the person with you, you implied that that person shared your confidence and the doctor rightfully figured it was OK to talk in front of that person. If you did not want the person to know medical details of your past or present, then you shouldn't have brought them with you. (After reading your additional information, I agree with you that the doctor was in the wrong. You had told his nurse that your friend was not privy to your medical information. She should have informed the doctor. I am sorry you had such a bad day. I still think that you should not sue, but if you really want to look into the matter, call an attorney an see if they will hear your problem for free and advise you.)

I was in an emergency room answering personal questions when my sister came to pick me up and walked in and heard things I wish she had not heard. When I asked the doctor about the incident, I was told there is no law covering confidentiality. In order to sue you would have to prove that it had caused you to lose something of value. You would have to have a willing witness, you would have to find a sympathetic court, you would have to have enough money to pay a lawyer for years of litigation, and you would have to be very patient. All the while everything said in the incident in question would become public record.
Believe me, there is nothing confidential about how doctors' offices treat our information. But in this world we just have to trust that we have nothing a doctor's office worker or insurance claims person, or any of their assistants or laboratory technicians want. Most of the time it works out fine.
When it doesn't, doctors usually win, unless you have unlimited funds, I would advise you to not sue. Just find another doctor. And try to figure out how to lessen any personal hurt and reputation damage the incident caused. Like ask the person who overheard your medical history to please keep it to themselves or somehow lead them to believe the doctor was inaccurate about the medical history.
Believe me, doctors, other patients, office personnel, insurance contractors and many more talk about patients all the time with no regard to confidentiality. That's why you have to sign all those papers when you go to the doctors or the hospital. It is to make you aware how all of your information will be handled, which in most cases, is pretty haphazardly. A testament to most people's basic honesty is that this information isn't misused more often.

lilsisdanimomma

You broke your confidentiality agreement the moment you allowed your friend into the room. Next time, you should just either go alone, or ask your friend to leave the room while you and the doctor talk. Also, the doctor in question should have asked you directly if you wanted the information shared or not. No court is going to allow this to be heard, it's not against the law to make a mistake.

Dr. Ruth Less

technically you could under the HIPPA laws...but the process could take a while....besides when you go to the docs with a friend...if you don't consent to your friend listening...why bring him in the examination room? I'm sure that could be something that they would argue in court.

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