My physician sent me to the health department for rabies and tetanus shots.
Why doesn’t he provide it ? Not enough money to be made? Malpractice fears? Has anyone else had this experience?
More likely he just doesn’t have them in stock and it would be faster to send you to the Health Department than to order them.
My Physican won’t update my tetenus shot. He just evades the issue, & refuses to reply.
What Neurotik said. It costs money to purchase the vaccines, and it must be stored properly. I sure don’t know of many doctor’s offices that store rabies vaccine!
More docs do keep tetanus vaccine around, but if the practice doesn’t use it a lot, I can see a doc not wanting to keep it on hand too.
This is slightly off-topic, but is there a difference between a tetanus booster shot and what you would get if you stepped on a nail? If so (and not knowing the specifics of carnivorousplant’s need), would it make sense that a doctor wouldn’t stock the latter type because most people would go to an emergency room for that?
Tetanus boosters are all the same in my experience. The stepping on a nail bit, while well known, is no more dangerous than any number of other wounds. There is some discussion that the update interval for tetanus could be a lot longer without harm, maybe why bosdas’ doc hesitates, although I know of no complications for updating on the current schedule. Rabies vaccine is a pretty rare use, I doubt if many family practice docs would stock it
When I was a kid, it was commonplace for everyone to get a tetanus shot every five years (from the family doctor). I find it odd that all doctors don’t have them on hand. Of course, kids aren’t nearly as reckless as they were back in the day. Everyone is so…padded…anymore.
Gee you guys get crap medical care. My doctor reminds me when I need a tet-tox booster and gives me one during a routine visit. Costs me nothing by the way.
I meant the whole visit costs nothing, physical, script, injection and all.
We know…we know…if only the Straight Dope Paramilitary Coup had succeeded, we’d have a Nation Health Care system.
Instead, the Crooks have the Goobers all convinced that it would lead to Satanism, Communism, & rampant Jaywalking, setting fire to all things Good and Right in America. :smack:
My doctor used to do the same thing when I was kid. My routine physician visit costs me $10 and that would include a vaccine if I needed it. I don’t think many adults get vaccines aside from a flu vaccine or whatever (which I never get) as a matter of course.
I can see that at $1,500.00 (Why is shit that can kill you so expensive? But I digress.)
I was bitten by a raccoon some time ago, picked up the rabies vaccine at the health department and took it to a different physican who did the injections.
I had to get my rabies series done at a local pharmacy. I think it was pretty expensive, but my boss footed the bill.
Why? D’he bite you? 
Did they have some to give you the injections at the pharmacy?
It’s definitely a question of money. To give vaccines, I have to pay for them and stock them. I stock tetanus, because I probably give one or two a week, but vaccinations like hepatitis A and B can cost a hundred dollars a shot and I can’t afford to stock them and hope somebody needs them before they expire. Sometimes, I’ll give a patient a prescription, have them fill it, and come to my office to get the injection. That way, I don’t have to worry about stock, or the markup on the injection, and can just charge the injection fee.
When my two technicians were exposed to rabies, the vaccine series was given at a local hospital.
When I worked for a feral cat trap-neuter-release organization, I got preventative rabies vaccinations in case I was exposed to a rabid animal while trapping. The traps aren’t cat-specific - I often released possums and racoons.
I had to get 4 shots over a series of several weeks. When I went to get the last one, I looked all over for some of that candy that makes you foam at the mouth, but couldn’t find any.
Hydrogen peroxide.
I have a list of folks. 