Physician exceeding authority?

My doctor asked me to fill in a questionnaire about how I felt about suing the insurance company for compensation after a car accident. When I got home I began to feel suspicious because if the insurance company got hold of the confidential information from the survey that could go against me. Kindly advise.

 

You should never fill out surveys about how you are progressing in your physical and mental condition when you have a matter with an insurance company. Experience has shown that some doctors could ‘inadvertently’ pass on the information to the insurance company. There was a precedent to this effect where the doctor tried to leave the country before the matter was formally heard. If your doctor passes the information to the insurance company, that would be a very serious breach. It could constitute misconduct which would be serious enough to suspend the doctor from practicing for some time. In any event, you should always obtain a copy of the survey you filled in. Also, ask the doctor what he was going to do with the survey you filled in and on whose behalf it was done and if he is going to send a copy of it to the insurance. If he refuses to answer those questions, write a complaint to the Medical Board.

Medical assault

SEXUAL CLAIM AGAINT (MEDICAL) DOCTOR: My younger brother who is nine years old told me that he had to go to the doctor, only a few blocks from where we live, for some tests. The doctor told my brother to undo his pants and the doctor put his hand on my brother’s private parts and told him to cough. But the doctor kept his hand on my brother’s genitals for too long and he even start to message his private parts gently. Can doctors do that?

Of course doctors can’t do that. There is a tendency by the occasional professional  to psychologically dominate and bully young boys – and those in a much weaker position by their sheer high status of being a doctor. If you have a good talk to your brother to ascertain specifically what the facts are and you agree that the doctor went too far, you can proceed with the matter. See a lawyer to formalize your complaint. There is an exception in law about the ‘presumption of the innocence’ until proven guilty. In this matter, in any civil hearing or Medical Tribunal, your brother could claim through his solicitor that there is in law ‘undue influence. There would be a reversal of the onus of proof, i.e.  the doctor (or anyone in authority – teacher, parents, lawyers, priests)  who would have to prove that he/she is innocent of the complaint. The issue of undue influence applies to all professionals and others where one party is in a clearly dominating position.