One Unreasonable Demand, Lasting Damage

This account was submitted by a healthcare provider and de-identified before publication. Details that could identify a patient or practice have been removed, and it is shared with the provider’s consent.

What was posted

The post on healthy grades was associated with a 1 star and said “No consideration for parents with difficult children Shouldn't be working with kids - Apr 17, 2023”

What actually happened

Mom brought her autistic son in for a filling. The treatment was routine, and he was cooperative. Mom said she wanted a prescription for over the counter pain medicine. I explained to the mom that he did not need prescription medication, and could just have advil or Tylenol as needed. She demanded a prescription for this. I told her I did not write prescriptions for over the counter medication. Mom started to argue with me that he needs the prescription so the nurse at school will give him the medicine. I told the mom I would call the school and make sure the nurse was informed that he had my permission to take any medication mom provided following his appointment. Mom was not satisfied and threw a tantrum, saying the office manager was biased and on my side. And she was crying. I offered to help her in several different capacities (write a letter to the nurse, call the school, etc) and none of those were sufficient. At one point the child got embarrassed and told his mom he was fine and to stop.

Impact

I was incredibly flustered by the whole interaction. The mom was aggressive, intimidating, and refusing to back down until she got what she wanted. This combined with all my bad reviews has given me depression and I’m in therapy.

Steps taken

I paid $500 to have the review taken down. It worked for a few weeks, then the review was visible again. Right now healthygrades has my reviews unreadable. But if my name is googled it still says 1 star rating.

Reported impact on this provider

Anxiety StressDeclined New PatientsEmotional DistressLost ReferralsLost RevenueLost SleepReputation DamageStaff Impact

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