9 Signs You Should Fire Your Doctor

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I took my son to a local family doctor since age 2. At 14 Brad began having coughing, constantly. Had general ills. His physician diagnosed him with a variety of conditions. All without benefit of diagnostic tests. A year later Brad began throwing up blood. At that point this doctor began ordering tests that should have been previously ordered. The outcome was Brad had advanced cancer. He did not make it. Had I looked up through the Clerk of the Court in the county I lived I would have seen the number of medical lawsuits he had on his record. The doctor was finally convicted of responsibility of a patient dying. Seeing that this is public record I can tell you the doctor is Alan Sichelman and practices in New Port Richey, Florida.

Linda Strickland Kimball of FL 11:30AM May 01, 2013

sounds just like my husbands doctor, who at one time was also mine. But I got the heck out from under his care when he refused to tell me why I was on so many medications. As soon as I changed doctors, my medications were reduced and I feel 100% better.
I am just waiting for my husband to see that this doctor is a fake , only in it for the money. He won't even visit his patients in a hospital.

bet105 of OH 1:36PM April 10, 2013

New doctor to me - infrequent but regularly spaced visits for two years - but
dreading each visit, hoping to not antagonize her and that she will let down
her barriers. Questions or suggestions or possible clues to my problems
that I offer are received as questioning her knowledge, or stupid. Very hard
nosed, at least with me. Definitely a personality clash as I really want and
have tried hard and even apologized if I have offended her, but I think it
is time to say adieu.

Anita of CA 9:12PM March 14, 2013

Absolutely agree. I have multiple chronic health problems that I continue to try to get to the bottom of. I have had a few real smug, condescending Drs. I have really butted heads with. My psychiatrist has battled it out with a couple drs standing up for me and telling them there are some serious neurological issues going from neuropathy or MS and he tells me not to give up. He says the medical system is broken. You have Drs battling it out with other Doctors and it is an uphill battle. He has seen me through some good health spurts and a lot of bad flair ups. He has given me his email to stay in contact for appts because I have been to ill to drive and I live 35 miles from the city in a rural area. He says We have the right to say whatever needs to be said if you are being treated disrespectfully. You can see his real concern for his patients. It seems like those type of Doctors are in the minority anymore. Nothing but cattle drive medicine. Stick you in a shoot and give you some pills and load up the next patient. But for the few really good doctors I have had, the system is broken for them too. Time constraints, battling with greedy insurance companies etc.... It is a sad thing when the Dr. That is telling you it is not in your head and to keep trying to get to the cause of the problems, is .....your psychiatrist!

Anne of TX 7:10PM March 06, 2013

i live in tampa fl and i would just like to say that my doctor is the best that i have ever had and his staff is great as well i could not ask for any better from any of them

s.lemily of FL 5:55PM January 21, 2013

Thank you for this post - it's very helpful, as my doctor fits all 9 categories and I recently made the decision to leave. Not easy when you have multiple chronic illnesses and it takes months and months (or a year or longer) to find a decent fit with a new doctor. I'd been seeing my doc for 15 years and unfortunately, you do come to expect (and think it's 'normal') poor treatment, even bullying, and not only 'not being listened to', but being forced to listen to her rant for up to 45 minutes about other doctors, other patients, etc., before you can even start talking about the reason for your visit (which lasts 5-10 minutes). So the kind of validation in this post is appreciated.
It is interesting to hear from other doctors in this comment thread because it's good to hear their perspective, but it's too bad they had to be snarky and whiny. IT'S THEIR JOB, and patients shouldn't have to pay for their frustration over administrative requirements, etc. Guess what? We come to see our doctors because we're ill or injured - go see a therapist or find another occupation if treating us is too difficult or annoying for you. Stop punishing your patients for your problems.

Johnson of OR 3:43PM January 13, 2013

check out this good article

angela of GA 6:13PM January 02, 2013

Several years ago I,a 51 year old man, had a local primary care doctor that was coordinating my care for a highly cancerous genetic disease, after some severe medical errors severely complicated my health even more ,my specialist said I needed a surgery to diagnose possible pre-cancerous rectal tissue,a transanal microsurgery. The risks were too much fot me ,I canceled the surgery and was too stressed to talk to my doctor,later diagnosed with PTSS by a psychiatrist. Anyway my PCP terminated me as his patient and angrilly said,''And you can't have any other doctor in this office,he even had me unable to have any other PCP in the only hospital network my insurance provider covered me for care.He made no attempt to get me any other care or PCP. I've tried finding anotber PCP ,and there is 1 close to my home. Driving an hour or more doesn't work for me. My PCP is 15 minutes from my home.i will remain with him,he doesn't turn his back on me when my stress is too much for me,or make it difficult to get medical care to prevent cancer. a year ago I called the administration of hospital that earlier refused to let me use any of the 23 PCP's in their network.I explained the reasons I canceled the surgery and that upon getting a second oppinion I was told that the surgery was totally unneccessary, and never done. And the only other reason I was given for being refused as a patient was an 84 dollar bill I had not paid. The administrative member said,''Since it all took place so long ago,there's nothing I can do about it,it's not going to change.'' My PCP has a private practice and thankfully the hospital administration cannot tell him,''No,you can't have him for a patient.'' I have up to 12 medical appointments yearly, there are other medical problems I have but don't seek care for, it just gets to be too much to deal with,like my life isn't mine ...it's like I'm a constant medical project. Humiliating,embarrassing,severly depressing,and worse than saddening sometimes. Notice I didn't mention names of doctors or hospitals, they may make my care even more difficult to get,or poor in quality.

annonymous patient of IN 6:44PM December 25, 2012

I agree with the comment of having a certain unease about a Doctor. Recently I've had frequent blood tests - I always have to call the office for the results. I think this is a sign he is seeing too many patients, and you are not the only not being called. Then I have to make lists to ask at the next app't. things that were missed, or incomplete. A patient should not have to fight for information. Also, if I have an emergency during after office hours or the weekend (which usually happens), he is not even called to make a decision, i.e., ER or not, or wait to see him next day.
Recently I went to the ER, after calling and the P.A. returned my call. They are not familiar with all cases. The doctors who want no calls after hours for your emergencies are just not there for you. It cost me alot extra to be admitted for two days, when a lab test would have sufficed.....also this stay in the hospital was terrible. Bad, neglectful nursing, noise, confusion on the day of discharge...
no directions over the past 6 months to monitor my pulse as reactions to meds would have saved me a whole lot by not going to the ER. Rude staff, comments, disrespect of my belongings; ERs are not good except in dire emergencies, and then, go straight to the main hospital' ER where you may or may not get a better opinion. All that stress didn't help. Roommate was sick, thy wouldn't let me change rooms....so I had to PAY for that disgusting room. Was never told what floor and why I was going to.....nurses had their favorites and spent all their time with them; roundings not done ovenight.....generally a very beaten up time. Word to the wise: if you are in an ER, insist you can call your own Dr. to discuss if he thinks it is necessary to be admitted. Again, he wasn't on call. I was ever informed actually who decided I should go to the ER that night.....I was not prepared and my dog was home alone...these things matter. B..... of a PA informed me my heart rate was not compatible with life!!! Three days later it was back to normal. Know your rights; I will never be admitted to a hospital again from another ER unless I personally speak with my Dr.
If it feels like a nightmare of confusion, it is. If you feel neglected, you are. If this has helped anyone, I'm happy.

mary brookes of CT 2:46AM December 15, 2012

I agree with everything written. Another reason to stop seeing a doctor is when you think you should be in the hospital for certain tests because of serious health reasons and the doctor thinks otherwise, then it's time to change. I recently was with my son who had a condition that we both felt very unsure about and neither one of our physicians, the PCP nor the Nephrologist would agree to. This was to rule out whether or not certain dialysis treatments were being performed properly each week that caused severe fevers and cold chills immediately following each session. He did not have these chills when done by a person in the hospital who was very knowledgeable in giving these procedures. He has suffered these fevers for almost three weeks and it leaves him very weak. We were both very disappointed in that they did not care enough to at least let us know for sure it was not the dialysis procedures. We felt they were both protecting this certain dialysis clinic as they evidently didn't want to be the one to say, "well, let's try another clinic". This would have ensured my son that he was being dialyzed properly. Now we have to suffer until we can find two different doctors. This let us know that these two doctors did not have the ability to put the patient first. We lost faith in both of them and will look for two different doctors. We will ask new doctors what would have been their position in this particular case before we hire them. The patient's health and well being should be put first in our estimation as it could mean life or death. Doctors would be well served if they listened to caregivers as they see the patient more than anyone else. We wanted to be in the care of a hospital while certain other test were to be performed but were denied this also. The patient had insurance so this was not even a consideration. Our son has suffered greatly with these fevers and chills as the day after dialysis is not a day of relaxation anymore as it takes another day to get over what happens on "dialysis day". He is losing the ability to carry on and it hurts the parents greatly to see him suffer after being thrown into dialysis too early which is another heartache.

James & Mitzi Anderson of FL 9:51AM December 06, 2012