r/interesting • u/tyrion2024 • 10h 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.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 5h ago edited 3h ago

I tried asking my doctors for a colonoscopy because I was concerned about some of the gastrointestinal symptoms I was having, and all they said is that it wasn’t likely to be colon cancer, as I’m too young (22), so they straight up refused

Edit to add: My grandpa has diverticulitis, my uncle is dying of bowel cancer, and my mom either has Crohn’s disease or IBS, and they still refused to look into it any further, simply attributing it to stress, even though my symptoms are chronic and have been gradually getting worse for a while.

Edit 2: I’ve seen at least 5 doctors, all of them female, and I do bring my mom as a backup to these appointments because I figured two voices are harder to ignore than one, but the answer has consistently remained a firm no. It isn’t as simple as some of y’all make it out to be. The only thing I haven’t tried that has been suggested is asking them to put on record that they’re refusing to investigate my symptoms, which is what I’ll try next.

Last edit I promise: In short, it’s exhausting to hear everyone essentially say “just keep trying” as if that isn’t what I have been doing for years.

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u/planetdaily420 3h ago

I went to 6 different gastroenterologists for help from age 26-29. Finally one said “if it makes you happy we can do a colonoscopy”. I had it on a Friday and by Monday I was scheduling surgery for that Friday to have the cancer removed and my colon re-sectioned. Fight for yourself and demand the care you need. I am 56 and would be long dead by now if I hadn’t made myself happy and gotten the colonoscopy.
Also it made it to where my children are tested early starting at 19 and one of mine has had significant polyps each time which is quite possibly saving her life as well.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 3h ago

I’ve been to 5 so far, so I mean it’s not like I haven’t been trying. I’m not giving up either but it’s exhausting hearing everyone say “just keep trying” as if that isn’t what I’m already doing

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u/AnAbandonedAstronaut 1h ago

I think thats more people trying to keep you motivated, but I get how that can be tiring, instead.

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u/planetdaily420 2h ago

Sorry I don’t mean it that way at all. I mean I think it’s great you are staying on them and doing all you can to get help. Wishing you the best and for you to find someone who will actually listen to you.

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u/ganglof2 1h ago

Tell them you have blood in your stool and your bowel habits have changed significantly. They’ll order it then.

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u/planetdaily420 1h ago

They will require a fecal test for you to confirm that. I know because I had to do a couple. None showed blood.

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u/ganglof2 48m ago

That’s crazy. I just got a colonoscopy at 37 by just saying I had unexplained stomach pain and my grandmother may have had colon cancer (tumors in her colon but they didn’t know if it was primary or not). He was like “let’s just rule out cancer.” I wonder if you can find a different doctor.

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u/_Skitter_ 1h ago

I had a neck injury some years ago that doctors refused again and again to do any sort of imaging for. About a year and a half to two years later, the pain was so bad and I couldn't hardly turn my spine. I was starting to get desperate. I was on like my fifth doctor and I told her I was absolutely insisting on an mri and if she wasn't going to do it then I was going to walk out and find a doctor who would. She said "Fine! If it'll really make you that happy I'll put in the request! But don't come crying to me when it doesn't find anything!"

I got my images back and googled every word in the report. I had lost so much disc between my vertebrae and they were pinching my nerves. I scheduled an appointment with another doctor to talk about the next move.

The previous doctor's office called me a few weeks later. Because she was the referring doctor, the lab sent her my results and she had finally gone over them. They said "Your imaging results show some concerns and your doctor would like to go over them with you." I said "I bet she fuckin would!" and hung up. Not my best moment but it felt good.

Why is it always "if that's what will make you happy" like I just have so much fun getting medical tests as a hobby?

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u/Individual-Fail4709 50m ago

I'm sorry you went through that. I went through the same thing. Refused to give me imaging and sent me to PT. OMG, PT was horrible, made it worse. Finally 18 months later they did the MRI. 3 small fractures and 3 herniated discs. Yay, surgery for me! I am glad that I can walk, but have permanent damage in my back, right leg and foot. Morons. If they had just listened for 5 minutes.

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u/Kobebean25 2h ago

What were your symptoms? Im not bleeding but my stools are think and i only shit like 3x a week. Got an appointment soon with a gastroenterologists

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u/kentuckyfortune 2h ago

Can you share what some of the medical symptoms are that triggered your actions in seeking further medical care?

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u/planetdaily420 2h ago

Sure. I was pooping 10-15x a day. All pencil sized very small poops. Play-doh texture with sour smell. Severe cramping like I needed to poop all the time. I was losing weight and had no appetite.

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u/dingdong6699 2h ago

Would you mind sharing what you were experiencing to make you push for that?

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u/planetdaily420 1h ago

Sure. I was pooping 10-15x a day. All pencil sized very small poops. Play-doh texture with sour smell. Severe cramping like I needed to poop all the time. I was losing weight and had no appetite.

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u/DetailOutrageous8656 1h ago

I was 47 and spent two years trying to get my family doctor to let me have a colonoscopy. She refused even though my mother had died of colon cancer. She told me that statistically my mother was over 80 so it wouldn’t have been hereditary. She went on that leave and while she was gone, I asked whoever the person replacing her who set me up with a colonoscopy no problem. Guess what I had cancer went through a surgery during the pandemic thankfully I am OK and it was caught in time if I didn’t push and refused to take her advice, I don’t know if I’d even be alive right now.

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u/mdeevy 52m ago edited 47m ago

Im a physician absolutely advocate for yourself.

I wouldnt put myself past this sort of thing. We all have our biases. Unfortunately medicine is probabilistic, so when we say something like "you dont have cancer" to a 25 year old before doing a colonoscopy (or even imaging sometimes) - it is a probabilistic and NOT absolute statement - even though it is often said as if it is absolute.

If you dont know what i mean by this - think about your car drive to work. You imagine it like you know you are going to make it there without issue. Black and white. But the fact is you just dont know if a car is going to blow a red light and Tbone you.

I tell patients that you know your body better than any physician will. Because youre the one living it. If you feel im making a mistake - call me out on it - and we can come to an accord a middle ground. If that doesnt work we can keep working towards more invasive tests, etc.

If a physician is stonewalling you - ask them if they have ever had a patient scenario they KNEW was going to go one way, but it ended up somewhere completely different. If the physician is worth their salt - they will know exactly what you are talking about and will put them in the state of mind to get your test or whatever youre seeking done... if they dont react to this question - immediately find a different physician.

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u/qwertyshmerty 44m ago

Do you have any insight as to why so many doctors are combative with their patients? Its not like they have to do anything other than write a referral.

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u/mdeevy 36m ago edited 30m ago

Its a combination of things. Dealing with people's lives is stressfull, especially for acute illnesses. Because you never know what the next minute or hour may bring... chronic diseases are a bit different. If somone has been dealing with a symptom for years, the physician may say its nothing. So I would imagine doctors build of years of doing things one way and never getting any negative feedback - so they develop the understand of "this works, why change".

If you never hear about what happened to that one patient you sent home with the chest pain you never got a CT PE on, you just assume things went well... i have 4 or 5 very distinct patient episodes that always come to mind - like discharging a patient with chest pain without getting a CT PE and they ended up come back 12 hours later with a PE. Even though they technically met their Wells criteria for discharge without one.

There is a concept of the incidentaloma that sort of enforces this bias. This is an incidental finding on any lab or imaging test that is not related to the symptom in question. Or considered to not be related. The trick here is that the possibilities of what the "incidental" finding could be are much more numerous than the 5 to 10 immediate diagnosis that, at least my mind, can come up with. Despite this we are taught that incidental findings often beget more unnecessary tests. Tests often times cause harm.

Its a complex question not easily put into a single sentence. I combat it myself by just being open to the possibility that there could be something im not immediately thinking of - because as an acute physician (I deal with acute problems) - there are really a set of just about 20 to 30 diagnoses I deal with in about 98% of my patients.

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u/Effective_Pickle_692 4h ago

ask them to put in the appointment notes that you requested it and they refused it. every time i’ve done that they’ve ordered the test lol

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u/WastelandeWanderer 3h ago

Yep, make them document that you asked for a procedure and they refused. Opens up malpractice avenue if you do have cancer and they would t refer you.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 4h ago

I’ve heard people saying that, I’m going to try it next time, thanks

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u/CountFunkenstein 3h ago

It’s real. Insurance is scared shitless of med-mal lawsuits and those rely heavily on documented evidence in medical records. If you tell them you think something is wrong and they brush it off, always ask that they note it in your file (and ask to see it). Hopefully you won’t need to sue later, but if you do, you want to have that on your side.

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u/Gaming_Friends 4h ago

Additionally if you keep complaining about digestive issues eventually the only option is to do a colonoscopy, (good) doctors only dismiss it when the symptoms are acute.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 3h ago

These symptoms are definitely not acute, I’ve had gastrointestinal problems for years, and they’re gradually getting worse, but doctors literally refuse to look into it any further no matter how often I complain, they just keep saying it’s caused by stress

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u/Detrimental_Figment 3h ago

Same here. For multiple years I have asked for a colonoscopy referral and she literally has laughed it off. Young people are dying of colon cancer BECAUSE OF DOCTORS. Sure, the underlying cause is likely stuff we are eating, but doctors not giving a shit is the thing causing deaths.

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u/EKsaorsire 4h ago

I lied. Lied right to the doctors face. Every symptom is what I had and a deep family history. I’m sorry you were done like that

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u/Nyx_Gorgon 3h ago

I didn't lie, but as soon as I said my stool had blood in it twice a week, and a jelly substance, they sent me to a GI doctor and I got schedule for a colonoscopy/endoscopy immediately. They removed a rather large precancerous polyp (TVA).

I say all this to say - fucking lie. Say you are having blood in your bowel movements. Whatever gets you the colonoscopy. My insurance did not cover it (BCBS), so it was 800$ out of pocket. Expensive, but cheaper than cancer treatment.

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u/Vxgjhf 3h ago

Similar, but male mid 30's, blood present along with other gastro issues, doctor told me I'm too young, with no family history. My mom committed suicide at 38 with Crohn's symptoms and my dad had major gastro issues and died of OD at 47. Neither would go to a doctor, it's impossible for me to have a family history of anything aside from the heart issues my paternal Grandpa had, as none of my other grand parents went to see a doctor other than ER visits.

Finally got referred for a colonoscopy, was told I had to pay $6k upfront after insurance. So I guess I'll just die if it is cancer...

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u/Ok-Replacement9595 2h ago

I think this has more to do with what insurance will cover. No.matter what a doctor thinks, or you tell them, they wont provide a test they wont get reimbursed for, or think they will have to spend days arguing with insurance reps over.

Private insurance is a surge for most americans.

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u/Vxgjhf 2h ago

Oh, I'm aware. I can't afford to get insurance outside of what my job offers, and my insurance won't cover it unless it's already diagnosed, like wtf, can't get the diagnostic done without already knowing the outcome, and insurance will not cover it at all until 45. After fighting get the referral to start with.

To simplify, doctors wouldn't believe colon cancer or Crohn's was a possibility, finally get referral, insurance tells me to get fucked until I hit 45.

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u/Ok-Replacement9595 2h ago

Yeah, I get the frustration. I just wanted to make that distinction of where the problem lay, in general. Mostly because americans that are otherwise healthy need to understand what will happen the second they have a health problem that falls outside the norm.

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u/OldPhotograph827 1h ago

What does surge mean?

Why do you Americans put up with such a fucked up healthcare system

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u/Ok-Replacement9595 11m ago

Scurge, a word autocorrect doesn't understand.

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u/WhatAmTrak 1h ago

Just get a predatory loan for 15-20% interest that you never plan on paying off :)

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u/uk123456789101112 56m ago

Sucks to be in the US for healthcare, free in the rest of the civilized world, cost would not be a consideration.

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u/SaphironX 15m ago

Dude come to Canada. Privately a colonoscopy will cost you like $2500. Maybe way less.

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u/troveofcatastrophe 4h ago

Did they give you other testing to find out what it could be? It seems like this would be a rule out situation. IBS, ulcers, Crones, food allergies, etc. You shouldn’t have to suffer.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 4h ago

Nope

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u/troveofcatastrophe 4h ago

Go back or find a new dr. And yes the time and expense is bs. Get recommendations

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u/Detrimental_Figment 3h ago

The same thing happened to me and unfortunately, like most Americans, I can’t afford to go to as many doctors as I need to go to to find one who cares.

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u/Birds_N_Hoos 4h ago

I got mine early because of a family history of polyps. Didn’t realize how quickly that would trigger a colonoscopy but maybe ask your family as well.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 4h ago

I have an uncle that’s currently dying of bowel cancer, but they still said no

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u/Salty_Inspector_7050 1h ago

Wait when should you start getting colonoscopies if there’s a family history of polyps?

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u/Birds_N_Hoos 1h ago

My brother got his first at 31 I think. I was late 30’s. We both go back every 5 years.

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u/Mocker-Nicholas 3h ago

I can get one, but have a high deductible plan. So to get “checked” it’s like 5K /:

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u/pmmemilftiddiez 2h ago

Also tried to get a colonoscopy and at 30 I was told I was way too young.

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u/hankmoody699 2h ago

I don't know what is appropriate in your case. I would reach out to a nationally known healthcare organization like.... Mayo Clinic. Ask if someone can review your medical history and help you get answers. It may be totally inappropriate to get a colonoscopy in your case. Or it might be useful. Just make sure the care you are getting is from a reputable source.

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u/ChelleInSand 2h ago

Been trying to figure out my severe fatigue for 20 years, over the years I got a few diagnoses that explained some of it but only after years of trying. If it isn’t something simple or obvious its really hard to get help.

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u/the_TAOest 2h ago

Get the blood test ... It's that for young people until things change

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u/captnjak 2h ago

Ask for a sigmoidoscopy if you're still worried and they won't offer the colonoscopy. Similar process just not as in depth and my doctor seemed pretty okay with authorizing that procedure.

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u/trahilcal01 2h ago

Sometimes you gotta lie. I hate to say it but these doctors are making educated guesses based on information you give. Blood in the stool, painful pooping, haven’t pooped for 5 days even though you took stool softeners, should work. If you have insurance, it’s not like you’re trying to get over or just asking them to shove something up your butt for fun.

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u/Bro13847 1h ago

And every time you try they bill you for it

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u/DetailOutrageous8656 1h ago

I was 47 and spent two years trying to get my family doctor to let me have a colonoscopy. She refused even though my mother had died of colon cancer. She told me that statistically my mother was over 80 so it wouldn’t have been hereditary. Doc went on maternity leave, and while she was gone, I asked the person replacing her who set me up with a colonoscopy no problem. Guess what - I had cancer. Went through a surgery during the pandemic thankfully I am OK and it was caught in time. If I didn’t push and refused to take her advice, I don’t know if I’d even be alive right now. Always advocate for your own health. Do not give up.

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u/OGharambekush 51m ago

That’s so crazy to me they won’t do it. I’ve been to 2 different GI doctors trying to figure out my esophagus problems and both of times I got a colonoscopy during my endoscopy. They said might as well hit both since you’ll be knocked out. Both times I didn’t even ask, they asked me if I wanted it.

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u/everything_is_wrong2 50m ago

Where are you located? I’m curious if this is partly location based or just asshole doctors. I got one done at 24 with no pushback from my doctor. There shouldn’t be an age cut off for colonoscopies, specifically since we’ve been seeing cancers in people in their 30s. It fucking sucks you have to experience this biased bullshit when experiencing symptoms and having family history. We shouldn’t be forced to constantly advocate for our health issues, they should be believed and just dealt with by doctors.

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u/kuavi 28m ago

Is it an insurance thing forcing you to use the same doctors? Cause medical tourism may be worth it if you're not getting anywhere locally.

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u/Per-Gynt 3m ago

Can't you just go to a clinic and say, "Here's my money, do a colonoscopy" where you live?

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u/Tehwheelzzz 3h ago

Just say diverticulitis runs in your family. 

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 3h ago

My uncle is dying of bowel cancer and they still said no. And my grandpa actually does have diverticulitis, also still a no.

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u/Dan_Caveman 3h ago

Time for a new doctor. At the very least, make one appointment with a different doctor who has good overall reviews.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my wife’s medical journey, it’s that some doctors are genuinely just quite shitty at certain aspects of their jobs. You can literally ruin your life by putting too much trust in the wrong doctor, and if you never get outside advice you’ll never even know it’s happening.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 3h ago

As I mentioned in my other comments, I’ve seen at least 5 doctors so far, the answer is always no

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u/Dan_Caveman 3h ago

Ah ok, gotcha. Out of curiosity, what reasons do they provide for refusing?

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 2h ago

They just say it’s unnecessary to do testing, that my symptoms are caused by stress, which I find to be bullshit considering what my symptoms are

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u/mosi_moose 3h ago

The family history you added certainly changes the equation. Some excellent advice from the other commenters here. A female doc may take your concerns more seriously, maybe bring your mom to back you up. Good luck to you.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 3h ago

I actually always have my mom come to appointments because I figure two voices is louder than one, and I also always make a point to have female doctors because I’m uncomfortable with male doctors. But still no

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u/mosi_moose 3h ago

Rough. Sorry to hear it.

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u/mosi_moose 4h ago

Rising rapidly describes relative rates. Occam’s Razor still applies.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 4h ago

They didn’t do any testing at all though, and they had no explanation for my symptoms

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u/Ok_Tradition_3382 4h ago

We have seen a surge in young people with gastric and intestinal cancers. Do not take no as an answer. Get scoped.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 4h ago

I can’t force them to give me a colonoscopy, all I can do is ask

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u/Ok_Tradition_3382 3h ago

I hear you. I work out of northern Ontario Canada and my spouse worked minor procedures for a while. Yes the gastroenterologists can say no. But I would strongly suggest becoming the “squeaky wheel” if you continue to be symptomatic. Frequent blood in your stool, urgency, incontiencence, pain, significant weight loss etc are all good reasons to investigate. Just because one md says no, doesn’t mean you stop. Advocate for yourself, go back to your family md repeatedly. Continue to push for investigation if you feel you need it! I have seen some horrific shit. Don’t become a number.

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u/AwkwardDorkyNerd 3h ago

I have tried though. I’ve seen multiple doctors, at least 5. I’ve complained just about every time I’ve seen them. I’ve told them my family history, with a grandpa that has diverticulitis, an uncle dying of bowel cancer, and a mother that either had Crohn’s or IBS (they failed to rule out a diagnosis for her, so it’s unknown which she has). They don’t care. All they ever say is that it’s caused by stress. I’m in the United States for reference