Oncologists not willing to treat cancer patient

[Frustrated in Illinois]

I was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia approximatley 5 years ago and I was taking Interferon injections to possibly keep it at bay. I've been told by several doctors that I need this to keep me alive. I had a bad experience with the last doctor who treated me. He did not want to perform a bone marrow biopsy under IV sedation, he would only do it under a local in his office. I've had it done under a local and the pain is excruciating. He refused to do it any other way and then he sent me a certified letter in the mail stating he would no longer be my doctor. He told my husband over the phone that there was nothing else he could do for me. Since then, every single doctor I've tried to make an appointment with has refused to see me, much less treat me. All I wanted to do was keep taking my Interferon and see where I was at in my cancer by having a bone marrow biopsy done every so often, which is what a doctor is supposed to do, in my case. I've run out of my medicine and I stand to lose my social security disability benefits, all because I cannot find a doctor who is willing to treat me. All I can figure out is that this particular doctor has got to be saying something bad to these doctors about me. I cannot imagine how a doctor could refuse to treat a patient with cancer. I never once raised my voice to this doctor, so I cannot seem to find an answer to this dilemma. I am covered by insurance but I could not get any answers from them or the state department of insurance. I've written to several attorneys but they say there is not enough malpractice. So, I'm sitting here waiting for the ball to drop, so to speak. I would appreciate any comments. Thank you.

 

[prairielaw3]

Hav you tried one of the major university hospitals or other major medical centers? They may well be worth a try. Good luck, and God bless!

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George H. Senteney
Prairielaw.com
"More people helping people with the law than anywhere."

 

[Frustrated in Illinois]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, Verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by prairielaw3:
Hav you tried one of the major university hospitals or other major medical centers? They may well be worth a try. Good luck, and God bless!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thank you for your response. The problem I have been having though is that every time I try to make an appointment with any doctor or hospital, they tell me that they cannot see me without all of my previous medical records. Then once they get my medical records, the run around begins. Of course, I've got copies of my medical records but there are no comments on them that would deter a doctor from seeing me. But they all insist upon obtaining them from the doctor, not from me. The excuses I've been given are "conflict of interest" {because I had already attempted to see a doctor in that particular group} and "I'll have to review your medical records before I decide whether or not I want to take your case." I've even been told by a receptionist that "there was more to this than just an appointment." When I asked her what she meant by that, she quickly put me on hold. Believe me, I would love to be able to just go into a doctor's office and be seen without my medical records, but that's not the way it works with these doctor's offices and hospitals. As far as a hospital or university goes, I just wanted to continue my interferon therapy, which does not require hospital stays. It just requires blood work taken monthly and a bone marrow biopsy taken approximately every 6 months. I know I'm going to eventually have to do it, but I'm on a very fixed income and cannot afford to travel to these places. In the past, when they found a problem with my bloodwork, they would want to see me either every 3 days or every week. I did go, early on in my diagnosis, to the University of Chicago but they were only interested in doing a bone marrow transplant. I had weighed the risks and without a related match, I decided I wasn't going to go through this, which is my own decision. Plus, the interferon seems to be doing an excellent job at keeping my cancer at bay. But when the university found out that I wasn't going to get the transplant, they told me to go back to my regular oncologists and continue interferon therapy. It's also been this attitude with the oncologists. Once they find out you are not interested in having a bone marrow transplant, they don't want to have anything to do with you. I don't understand this because if the interferon therapy is working, why try anything else? In fact, I was told this by the last doctor I had. But I need a doctor to prescribe me this medication. I've gone to my family doctor about this, but he says he wants nothing to do with it and won't prescribe me the medication because he is not an oncologist, which I can understand. But on the other hand, he is not willing to help me find another doctor. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. I would love to be able to put this behind me and move on and try to find a job, but I have already been told that I would need a doctor's release before I could go back to work. I cannot find a doctor who is willing to do that, either. I have tried that avenue, also. They won't treat me but they won't release me, either. Are there any doctors out there who would take me without medical records and just start fresh? It's the only thing I can think of to solve this problem but I know I'm going to have a hard time finding one who is willing to do that. I would appreciate any comments you might have. Thank you.