I underwent radioactive iodine therapy for hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) on Monday. According to hospital policy, a pregnancy test must be performed before the therapy is administered. I spent two hours waiting for the test to be processed, in preparation for a procedure that takes less than thirty seconds to complete. (I’m serious. The nurse gives you a capsule. You swallow it. And that’s your therapy.)
I told them that I’m not sexually active. I have never been sexually active. There is no way that I could be pregnant. So my question is, why don’t they have some sort of waiver saying something to the effect of “I won’t take any legal action against this hospital if I do turn out to be pregnant?”
Why don’t they have a waiver? Because in the face of a baby born with birth defects because of radiation treatment given the mother, a jury is likely to ignore the hospital’s waiving a piece of paper and saying “she signed a waiver!”
When I went in for an xray of my finger after shattering it in high school they asked me if I was pregnant (I was 17). I laughed and said no, unless immaculate conception could really happen.
The nurse then took me out in the hall (away from my dad who’d come with me to the appoinment) and asked me again. I thought that was very cool. I still said no, and she gave me a sheet to sign saying that I wasn’t pregnant.
Due to a mix-up in paperwork between the hospital and the insurance company after some surgery I had six years ago, I ended up with an itemized copy of the bill. (I about DIED when I got the $7000 bill, too!) One of the items was a $50 pregnancy test.
It must be standard, because if I was pregnant then, it was time to call the Pope. I didn’t lose my virginity until two years ago.
Well every doctor or nurse can probably tell you a story about some woman who insisted she couldn’t possibly be pregnant and then proceeded to deliver 7 or 8 pounds of indigestion. They have to play it safe.
Hey, my aunt had to take a pregnancy test prior to getting the same treatment as the OP. The nurse informed her a negative pregnancy test was required for the procedure. It didn’t matter that she’d had a hysterectomy a good ten years before.
Was the nurse a moron? Is it some kind of law? We don’t know, but mom and auntie found the whole thing funny.
I do also know that when my mom had the same problem (yeah, I got me some good genes), she was much younger and my parents had been actively trying to get pregnant when she got sick. They made both of my parents sign papers stating they would not get pregnant for at least 1 year after the treatment. The paper my dad signed basically stated he was waiving his ‘rights’ for the period in question.
My mom was pretty pissed about that (this was 20-odd years ago). I hope by now hospitals don’t assume a husband has rights to his wife’s body he needs to sign away.
Well, if it was in my lab probably because we’re short-handed due to people calling in and a superior who can barely find the lab, never mind knowing what we do in it, deciding we don’t really need overtime so just handle it yourself. So I have to prioritize all the piles of work coming in and decide what’s most important, which gets done first. Usually it’s whoever is bleeding the most or swallowed the most drugs, etc.
But an iconic pregnancy test can be done outside of the lab, and then confirmed with a beta hcg if the result is questionable or positive. While the blood test is definitive, if a patient says “I’m a virgin” and the icon is negative, that’s pretty concrete evidence that she’s not pregnant, and isn’t going to have a miscarriage or give birth to a dead or deformed baby. It’s also cheaper and faster for the patient who, last I checked, was the customer (i.e. the one to be satisfied) in this equation.
I’m not discounting the need for everyone to be certain, I’m just irritated that you have to give a history which forces you to disclose personal matters like when you’ve had sex, then that history is ignored or, worse, disbelieved. (And really, a woman whose had a hysterectomy is put though this? They couldn’t just ask the referring doctor for confirmation from her damned records?)
Can I add an “Amen, my sistahs!”? I had my first child last year. Six days postpartum, I had to have emergency surgery. I waited over an hour while they ran the required pregnancy test prior to using anesthesia. Erm…did I mention the part about being SIX DAYS POSTPARTUM? And, needless to say, emergency surgery usually involves a condition that is causing the patient some form of pain and danger, yes?
Heck yea…a waiver would be nice! Some basic common sense would suffice as well.
