No, I haven't. But I wasn't happy with my doc. She actually falsified my records.

What did your doc do?

That's terrible that a doctor would falsify records!

My gyn failed to follow up on problems that presented in an MRI I had in 2011, and she told me all of the symptoms I've been having these past few months were normal and nothing to worry about. She said the symptoms would go away.

It wasn't until Sept. when I couldn't walk that she decided to follow the advice in the final impression of my MRI report and start treating me. Too bad she waited year :(

I feel she should've followed up as the MRI report told her to in 2011. I also feel she shouldn't have misled me about the complications associated with my condition, and she shouldn't have lied to me about my symptoms being normal.

I'm considering reporting her, but I don't really know how much good that will do. I'm just so pissed about how I trusted her, and now I'm scrambling to find a competent doctor to fix her mistakes.

I hear you. That is aweful that this happened to you.

For me, I miscarried and after the first ultrasound, the ultrasound doc did not recommend a D&C because they suspected an ectopic. But 2 wks later, she had a free slot in surgery and decided to do the D&C anyway. They do a biopsy on the stuff that comes out, and it was negative. They did not find any embryo like cells. But she wrote in my report "patient later told doctor that she miscarried on her own at home."
Meaning that I saw tissue come out my body. It was not true. But she was covering her butt because 3 wks later the miscarriage turned into a burst tube. I found another patient on-line who also left her for the same reason.

I think she is a good person, a lousy doctor. So I haven't done anything...but I should. You are right.

I had a dr do some things wrong, too. Didn't do a d and c properly, which caused a need for another one, done by another surgeon. She also didn't take good notes during surgery, so it was difficult for the new dr to see what had been done. She ignored my symptoms when they came back quickly after surgery.

Doctors make mistakes. Sometimes big mistakes. I just don't know if it is worth it to fight the dr. I would definitely write a letter to the office manager and let them know. I'd be hesitant to take it to court, though, unless it almost cost you your life or something. Maybe that is the wrong way to look at it, though. Either way, I'm sorry this happened to you!

I'm sorry it happened to you hun. I would write a letter to the office manager of the doctors office or the hospital she works at (like the chief of that department) and then find another doctor. Yes, we should be able to trust our doctors but the reality of it is we have to be our own BIGGEST advocate. It is up to you to take control of your health and treatment and insist they address whatever is going on and if they don't move on.

I'm sorry you've gotten such rotten care! Falsifying records is a big no-no but it's actually quite common. Since doctors don't like disciplining their peers, many complaints to the state medical boards result in no disciplinary action. Plus it's oftentimes the patient's word against the doctor's. Some patients have resorted to secretly recording doctor's visits for this reason as well as a way of note-taking. I believe this is legal in most states. I personally haven't done this. However, I did see an "alternative" doctor for awhile (in an attempt to fix some of my post-hysterectomy issues) who dictated into a recorder during the appt. This allowed me to ensure he captured everything correctly (e.g, symptoms). Of course, he still would have had to record it correctly in my chart.

I did file a complaint with my state's medical board and my insurance company since my organs were unnecessarily removed for the purpose of training gynecology residents. The board ruled that my doctor did nothing wrong! The insurance company told me that their findings were confidential.

According to the Federation of State Medical Boards, most states fall short of protecting their patients from doctors providing substandard care.

I do think it's important that we take action against incompetent and/or harmful doctors yet we also have to consider the consequences to us.

I've never had a need to report a doctor thank goodness, run into a few I didn't care for and ran for the hills is all. Anyway I think the moral of all these ladies advice is if it's a serious issue report it but probably don't expect any noticeable outcome on your end. I still think it's necessary to report negligent doctors because I do think if enough patient complains come in it can back up serious claims against a doctor in the future. I always try to keep in mind that doctors make mistakes, but how they handle it (admit it to me vs. cover it up) makes a big difference in my book.

For more practical purposes - to warn off future patience for instance - you might write up a review on one of the many websites dedicated to rating doctors. Just keep it tasteful and stick with the facts as I've definitely read some reviews where people let their emotions rule it and never know whether to take them seriously!

@endowife I'm so sorry for what happened to you. It's already a physically and emotionally painful experience and then you have to deal with an untrustworthy doctor.

I know exactly what you mean when you say a good person, but a lousy doctor. My gyn was super nice and we actually have mutual friends so we run in the same social circle.

I actually just found another MRI report and a sonogram (from her own office) telling her to follow up on my condition. So I have three in all telling her. Now, I'm pissed she ignored these, but I'm about to Hulk out on her for lying to me about the symptoms being normal or unrelated.

I agree about doctors making mistakes, but the leading cause of death in the US is medical mistakes. If my condition had been cancer this situation could've been a lot worse. And it's scary to think she could have other patients that she's treating poorly.

I probably will report her. It probably won't do anything really, but if she's ever sued for malpractice in the future this will at least come up. And maybe she'll learn from this experience, and she'll treat her other patients better.

Thank you all for the advice, and for sharing your experiences with me. It helps a lot :)