I’m a general physician. I agree to see a new patient for a routine general health exam.
A new patient arrives for her appointment, and one of the nurses attempts to take her through the initial checks, including height and weight. The patient refuses to go along with the checks, and the nurse finally passes her on to me out of sheer exasperation.
Me: “Hello, I’m [My Name]. I understand you had some issues with the initial part of your general health exam?”
Patient: “Yes. I shouldn’t have to disclose my height or weight. It’s my body and my business, not yours.”
Me: “Considering I’m your general physician, your body literally is my business. If you refuse to allow me to confirm your height and weight, we cannot continue the exam.”
Patient: “I’m not going to let you bully me about my body. I’m healthy and beautiful, and no doctor is going to tell me otherwise.”
Me: “Okay, then I’m afraid we’re done here. I’ll send [Nurse] in to escort you back out to the lobby.”
Patient: “I need you to sign this form before I go.”
I take the form. It appears to be a standard employer form declaring that a person is physically healthy enough to perform their job duties, confirmed by the results of a routine exam. Employers are allowed under both California and US federal laws to require these exams for new employees as part of the hiring process, as long as certain conditions are met, so I and most general physicians are familiar with the requirements.
After recognizing what it is, I hand it back to her.
Me: “I can’t sign this unless I’m able to actually perform the examination.”
Patient: “But I need it for my new job, so just sign it and I can be on my way.”
Me: “I cannot sign that form without being able to perform the exam. And to perform the exam, I need to get your height and weight measurements.”
The woman refuses to answer me, she just stares at me and holds her form out.
Me: “Ma’am, at this time, you have two options. Either allow me to perform the exam, or I will have security escort you back to the lobby.”
She still didn’t answer me, so I left the room and called security. Shortly after, I heard her shouting about needing her form signed for her new job while security escorted her out. I locked myself in my office, and wrote up a full report on the incident, and asked [Nurse] to write her own report explaining that the woman had been uncooperative.
The patient was effectively blacklisted from our clinic for her behavior after security entered the scene. I heard later that police ended up being called, but I don’t know anything beyond that so unless she agreed to an exam at a different place, I’m guessing she didn’t get her new job after all.
