Since you happen to be the third person this week with the exact same complaint.
So, let’s look at the problem objectively.
All you need is for me to sign a form stating that you are medically qualified to drive a schoolbus. No, you don’t want to actually come in for an appointment or an examination, you just need the form signed. Oh, and one more thing. Please make sure that you write that my sleep apnea will not affect my ability to do my job.
Wait-what? (record scratch-and I just realized that this allusion makes me officially old)
Just write that your sleep apnea is well-controlled, you say. You mean the sleep apnea that you are supposed to be on a CPAP machine for but you can’t or won’t use it? The sleep apnea where I have documented in the chart that this needs to be addressed and that I have repeatedly noted should be reassessed with a new sleep test to confirm that you “don’t [feel you] have a problem”? This would be the sleep test/sleep medicine consult that you have respectfully declined, stating you don’t have the time to go see a specialist or have a sleep test (even though I offered home testing?) And all you need is for me to sign a form documenting that your sleep apnea willl not affect your driving a schoolbus so that when you inevitably fall asleep at the wheel and kill a busload of children, the plaintiff’s attorney (not to mention the Medical Board) can review my notes where I have carefully documented over and over again “repeat sleep testing recommended-patient continues to decline” before taking me for the limits of my malpractive and/or suspending my license.
Yeah-I think I’ll pass on this one. As I noted you are the THIRD person this week with the exact same complaint, and frankly, I am not giving in to your whining and pleading. As the oft-quoted meme puts it “a lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine”. And yes, I do understand that not only will you be finding a new doctor but you will probably be leaving nasty feedback online. As I said, at this point I am just finding it hard to care.
This is why, in part, among Certified Professional Drivers (that I know anyway) school bus drivers are considered the worst. Thank you for maintaining your professional and medical ethics and standards.
Offering a similar thanks to my MIL’s doc who told her he was making an entry in her record that her Macular Degeneration was to the point that she should not drive. She *finally *gave up her license.
I always hate it when a person tries to blame someone else for the problems they created.
My aunt used the “You are destroying his life” after one of their neighbors reported my cousin for stealing their car. (He actually just reported that his car was stolen; my cousin was stopped by the police while driving it.) She ranted and raved at him saying he should drop the charges.
I more sympathy for their neighbor than my cousin. My cousin consciously decided to break the law and steal the car. It’s not the neighbor’s fault; it’s also not the neighbor’s fault my cousin had drugs with him in the car.
I have heard that logic more than once too. Someone breaks the law and the family don’t think they should be punished because it will “destroy their life.” If they broke the law that’s on them not anyone else.
Thanks for the reminder of why I’m not in primary care. In the ED I have a standard I don’t do disability/FMLA/pre-op clearance/whatever paperwork policy. You need to talk to your PCP about that or I’m happy to refer you to our pre-op clearance clinic. Also, you do not need a full week off class for your sprained knee. But I will write you a doctors note that you can use the school elevator instead of climbing the stairs to get between classes.
Being in Corrections medicine gets me out of a lot of that. Instead, I am expected to endorse their need for low bunks, thicker mattresses, extra pillows, special shoes, and so forth. I can just say ‘no’ to all that, so I think I have the better end of the deal. Plus I don’t have to worry about bad patient reviews online. “Callous and uncaring, he wouldn’t give me my oxycodone for my backache”.
Gads. Several years ago, my dad was pulling hazmat tanks. Per federal regulations, it was a team driving job, and their tractor and tank were tracked by satellite, long before GPS was an everyday standard. If you are old enough to remember the terrible chemical spill that killed about 3000 people in Bhopal, India? That’s what they were pulling.
My dad was Dxed with sleep apnea and prescribed a CPAP. He refused to use it. Got fired for cause. Still mad. He was bitching about it last week. I just reminded him that he’s a stubborn dumbass, and asked him to pass the potatoes.
Like people who bitch about “speed traps” that are just areas where the speed limit drops. There are a couple on my way to work. The speed limit signs are unobstructed and clean. The stretch where it drops to 30 is truly a dangerous bit of road, and it’s maybe all of a half a mile. I have people climbing up my tailpipe because I slow down thru there. Too bad - I’m not risking a ticket or an accident because you’re an ass!
