r/interesting • u/tyrion2024 • 11h ago

MISC. A Virginia man inadvertently left his phone recording while he was under anesthesia for a colonoscopy, which captured audio of the doctors: mocking him, instructing a medical assistant to lie to him, and discussing giving him a false diagnosis of hemorrhoids. In 2015, a jury awarded him $500,000.

Post image
14.5k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

41

u/tinyrevolutions45 8h ago

Was that covered by insurance? I feel like that’s the big barrier for folks under 40-45, especially if you don’t have a family history.

53

u/Quovadisdomi 8h ago

I asked my doctor for a screening during a physical. He refused to give it to me because I was too young, but relented. The screening led to the colonoscopy which was covered.

17

u/tinyrevolutions45 8h ago

Glad he relented and that you received the care you needed!

16

u/ElReyLyon 7h ago

You said you got randomly checked, but say you needed to fight your doctor to approve the test. Why did you feel the need to pursue the test? Are there other screenings you’ve pursued early as well?

14

u/thrownawaytrash86 7h ago

I was 38 and a woman. I told them I was diarrhea’ing a lot and having pain with it. They wanted to take a look and they did. My sleeve was behaving awful so I had to have it revised to a bypass because it caused me to have Barrett’s on the endoscopy too. I have good doctors. You have to find the right ones I guess. Mine gives my husband one every year now because he grows polyps super fast and we’re both 40 now.

It shouldn’t be so hard for anyone to get screened if they have symptoms, just because of their age.!

-4

u/Chill_Mochi2 5h ago

To be fair quite a few of the symptoms sound like symptoms you get when you have issues related to menstruation or women’s reproductive system. I hate being a woman sometimes. But I guess in the bright side there a few symptoms that would never happen if it were menstrual related so..

9

u/WVildandWVonderful 8h ago

Share for the class how you got your screening.

2

u/Quovadisdomi 3h ago

It was a poop swab test. I had just been reading about how much colon cancer was spreading amongst milenials and asked for a screening test at a physical. The screening found blood in my stool (invisible to the eye) and that led to a colonoscopy which found a tumor.

3

u/MoonMan75 7h ago

What was the colon cancer screening, FIT testing?

1

u/Normal_Opposite_9864 6h ago

colonscopy

2

u/MoonMan75 6h ago

There's no way a colonoscopy without any symptoms and prior to the correct age would be covered at first. It is likely he asked for some kind of screening like the FOBT, which came back positive (and is a lot cheaper). Once that is positive, then a colonoscopy is the next indicated step and would be covered.

1

u/Tacotuesday867 4h ago

You can get one anytime since there are so many private clinics. A fit test would be front line and is at 50 and every other year after.

1

u/MoonMan75 2h ago

Yeah, the guy above asked his PCP at his annual physical though. Looks like his PCP had him do the FOBT first.

1

u/Quovadisdomi 3h ago

It was a poop swab test.

1

u/henrydaiv 5h ago

I did the same during my last visit; asked if i could get my insurance to cover it and he said not til im 45!!! I dont wanna wait almost 10 years so tbh if i cant convice him i may just pay for it out of pocket. If i had any symptoms it would be different i guess but symptoms i do have didnt justify needing it.

1

u/elitesense 4h ago

That doesn't answer the above person's question: "was it covered?"

A doctor can make an order for anything, it doesn't mean it'll be approved for payment coverage. This is true both in countries with government provided healthcare and private insurers.

1

u/Quovadisdomi 3h ago

It was covered.

15

u/triviahostrob 7h ago

Here's the thing: you can just say you do have a family history.

8

u/drumallday 6h ago

Friend of a friend has a family history and unusual symptoms in her 30s and tried to get a colonoscopy. The doctor refused to order one. By the time she found a new doctor and got insurance to cover it (which was another challenge), she had stage 4 and died before she was 40.

10

u/Megneous 6h ago

God damn I love living in a country with universal healthcare and getting a colonoscopy for like 30 bucks. Could go to the hospital like next week and get another if I wanted to.

6

u/bxzidff 5h ago

Imagine how much money the health insurance companies would make if they could spread their model to more countries. They'd absolutely love to have more people suffer and die for their profit. Be vigilant about the politicians and donors who try to subtly privatize more and more healthcare. It would be political suicide to go against universal healthcare now, but the forces who are against it are rich and powerful. Don't take it for granted.

1

u/drumallday 5h ago

my partner was dealing with some serious nausea and stomach pain. After several emergency room visits, he finally got an appointment with his primary doctor who decided he needed to see a specialist. Because this next appointment was six weeks out and his symptoms pointed to an ulcer, we asked the primary doctor to order an H. Pylori test as that is the primary cause for an ulcer and the treatment would be antibiotics. The doctor refused. At this point, my partner had lost 40 pounds because he was unable to eat. His condition was grave and the doctor refused a simple inexpensive test. We went to an online medical provider, described his symptoms and paid $120 out of pocket so that he could go into the specialist appointment with more data to help get to a diagnosis. It has been so frustrating. He started the year at 200 pounds and currently weighs 135. Every time he gets a referral to someone new, it's another 2 month wait. One of the doctors requested an MRI 3 months ago but insurance won't approve it and that test he can't afford to pay out if pocket

1

u/ms_calculated 5h ago

Where do you live?

3

u/SutekkaGhost 3h ago

That wasn't enough in my instance. I had a doctor of 10+ years who agreed to give me a colonoscopy after my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 as well as her sister and that same sister's son (so my aunt and her son, my cousin, who was a year or two older than me). I unexpectedly had to move weeks later and we had to cancel.

New doctor agreed with my previous one and echoed that I should start getting it done once every year or so. By this point my cousin had passed from his cancer. Mom and aunt were still with us. I had to push my appointment because my mom went back into chemo and I was her primary caregiver. Her chemo was going to be over in a few months

That doctor left the practice. Mom passed a couple weeks after she finished her chemo plan (it was a bit unexpected and the doctors said her body just randomly gave up, idk). Took me four months but I finally went to meet my new doctor. Told them my history, pointed out the notes in my charts from my last two doctors, including the last who was his colleague. Reminded them my mom and cousin passed from it recently. He looked at my chart again and goes, "well, you're 35. That's too young to get tested. Typically we wait till 40"

Brought it up again at the follow up two weeks later. Same thing. Asked the nurses opinion when the doctor left the room and she echoed what he said. I'm going to have to talk to my insurance about switching doctors, I can't just go pick a new one on a whim, unfortunately

I've had chronic digestive issues my whole life. I'm convinced I'll develop it at some point. Hopefully it's after I turn 40.

Also, apologies for the long explanation. I'm exhausted over this and tired of being dismissed.

1

u/troveofcatastrophe 2h ago

Don’t give up !! It IS exhausting but you have to keep pushing.

1

u/beardofmice 6h ago

Esp with the Trainwreck that is Epic and the whole bloated pull down menu mess of e-records. I have like 13 of the same condition peppered through out 15 years of the same health system. I don't even actually have that condition anymore.

12

u/OntologicalShoc 6h ago

With respect to family history: the neat part is that you DO have a family history of colorectal cancer on both sides! They're not going to call your mom to verify.

3

u/calfats 5h ago

Except that even with family history, insurance doesn’t want to pay. My aunt died in her early 30s from colon cancer and that wasn’t enough to get my colonoscopy covered at 32. I’m still paying for it a year later.

1

u/Ghost_of_a_Pale_Girl 3h ago

Typically they only look at immediate family when making those decisions. My dad had colon cancer at 38, and they approved my first colonoscopy at 35 due to this. Good thing too, because I'm a polyp making factory.

2

u/calfats 3h ago

Yes, they don’t consider an aunt to be a close enough relative.

But my GP did some research for me on the increase in risk factor for me with immediate vs secondary relatives. Now, this was only one study, but an immediate relative meant like a 1.9 to 2.1 times risk factor increase while a secondary relative like my aunt means a 1.4 to 1.6 times risk factor increase.

Seems to me that 1.4-1.6 is still heightened enough that it should be covered. Plus, me getting a colonoscopy sooner and possibly catching something earlier is much cheaper for the insurance than paying for a stage 4 colon cancer treatment. But I also felt like the $1800 out of pocket cost for the colonoscopy was high.

The whole insurance system is fucked and a racket.

1

u/OntologicalShoc 2h ago

I'm sorry that happened to you. It may not be of use to you or you may have already explored it, but many hospital systems offer reduced billing based on income. I was able to get a $5K MRI down to $900 once which was a big help. Good luck with your colon! May your polyps be ever tiny and benign.

2

u/calfats 2h ago

Well, even if I am still paying it off, I was clean as a whistle. So it was well with the peace of mind.

But yeah, the $1800 was the cash pay rate already reduced. It would have been more had it gone through my insurance.

1

u/troveofcatastrophe 7h ago

Yes, it is a huge barrier. You have to push and push and..

Well, you do. Pretty sure your grandma or grandpa or uncle or had it…

1

u/Faytil 7h ago

if you do this you have to say they got the dx young if not true since the screening guidelines are 45 or 10 yrs prior to a first degree relative dx

1

u/calfats 5h ago

And even then, not covered. I had an aunt die in her early 30s from colon cancer and my insurance would not cover my colonoscopy at 32. Still paying for it a year later.

1

u/Normal_Opposite_9864 6h ago

why wouldn't it be covered? what a weird statement. I had stage 3 colon cancer and never paid a dime

1

u/crimsonpostgrad 4h ago

bc it often isn’t for young people

1

u/Livefiction1 6h ago

I’m 41 and denied because I’m not old enough. Joke of a system.

1

u/calfats 5h ago

My aunt died at 30 from colon cancer and insurance would not cover a colonoscopy for me at 32. Still paying for it a year later.