i think a LOT of you with chronic conditions should learn this one magical phrase to get your hospital doctor to shit his entire pants, which is leaving the room and saying "im going to go discuss your behavior with the ethics committee, i think you might need a reminder of what your job is"
examples of when this would get a doctor to shit himself: if he mentions that you need to loose weight, go straight to the ethics committee and ask if its ethical to withold treatment until weight is lost, the answer is no and they know this. if a nurse etc, wont wear a mask and you NEED them to, the ethics committee, upon review of the case, will not be happy many such cases, remember that doctors and nurses at hospitals have an Oversight Board
while this is well intentioned, also please remember that this is only really an option for white people.
bipoc people have been loudly stating tor a long time that doctors are to bipoc women what cops are to bipoc men.
not saying don’t try this but also consider bringing someone with you, being on the phone during an appointment, or recording your appointment. solidarity is an effective tactic when appealing to the system is not.
Patient Advocate here to a. validate everything Josie has said above and b. add some extra advice from things I have seen in my career as an advocate.
BIPOC women and Queer folks tend to be more likely to receive retaliation when advocating for themselves. Red Flag notations like "noncompliant" or "malingering" get resorted to much faster for these patients and can impact your care going forward. My suggestion instead of the OP advice is, if you request something that is denied, ask "can you document my request?" This is less likely to trigger defensiveness but sometimes, this will prompt a physician to rethink their decision. However, if they still don't honor your request, do not tell them you are reporting them to Ethics (or Patient Relations, or your local Department of Health, etc), simply walk out and do it. The documentation can't be deleted once your visit is closed, so there will be a paper trail of your request.
These scrutinizing bodies are ruthless, and even if Physicians themselves don't act frightened by them, the organizations they work for absolutely HATE having unnecessary case reviews on their plate. In some cases, citations from the DoH can lead to the hospital being reimbursed less money from insurance providers. That speaks the language of shareholders and CEOs and can move a lot of needles, if you catch me.
