Have You Experienced Medical Bullying? Tell Us Your Story
Medical bullying has escalated during the past few years, but the problem is far from new. As the medical-pharmaceutical industry has grown, so has the interference in the doctor-patient relationship. Medical decisions are being made by administrators to serve the financial bottom line rather than by doctors to serve the best interest of the patient.
Increasingly, doctors and nurses are trained to adhere strictly to one-size-fits-all medical “standards of care,” to ignore their own experienced judgment, and to use scripted language to “nudge” patients into industry-chosen directions.
The Washington Chapter of Children’s Health Defense, in collaboration with Informed Choice Washington, is launching a campaign to combat medical bullying. We aim to protect practitioners being bullied by their employers as well as patients being bullied by their practitioners.
A few examples you might have experienced:
- Told to leave a medical practice because of declining a vaccine for yourself or your child
- Made to feel uncomfortable for disagreeing with a medical practitioner
- Told upon your refusal that you must sign a form that says you are putting your life and the life of others in jeopardy
- Told that an alternative medicine cannot be prescribed to you, despite its suitability for your medical situation, because it is not the current “standard of care”
- You were prescribed a vaccine or drug and later realized you had not been given full information about the risks of the product or the alternatives to the product
- Threatened that CPS (Child Protective Services) will be called if you exercise your legal right to decline vaccination
- Threatened with job loss if you did not comply with medical procedures or processes you disagreed with
Bullying isn’t always delivered in an unkind manner. In fact, medical practitioners are taught the art of coercion and manipulation in medical school and through courses that provide continuing medical education credits, presented by various pro-pharmaceutical entities such as the CDC, the NFID (National Foundation for Infectious Diseases — a “nonprofit” organization), and Immunize.org. Tactics include:
- Overstating risks of a disease or condition and understating, or omitting, the risks of the pharmaceutical product
- Adopting a concerned tone and expression when listening to patient concerns
- Cheerfully using the “presumptive method” rather than asking a patient whether they want a product. “Oh, I see it’s time for your flu shot today; I’ll have the nurse draw that up for you.”
- Attempting to instill confidence in the product by claiming they have taken the product themselves and given to their entire family
- “Nudging” through “motivational interviewing,” which means they question the patient to identify their fear buttons and then push them. Example: “How will you feel if you infected your grandma and she died?”
If you experienced medical bullying and are willing to share your story, please write to us through our CONTACT page. It’s time to get Big Medicine, Big Pharma, and Big Government out of the doctor-patient relationship. It’s time to return to “first do no harm” and the medical ethics of fully informed consent.
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