I wonder if they're perceiving it as a threat of legal action - assuming you want to know because you're "planning to sue" rather than just checking if there's something fishy with the paperwork. I'm not trying to make excuses for them - this behaviour is shitty in the extreme - but I wonder if they were thinking "surely the only reason you would want to know that is if you wanted to sue me"?

Here's hoping you find someone else who can help ASAP.

Answering legal questions about his business makes him uncomfortable?

RUN.

what was the context around asking that question?

If it was stand alone, I can see why they might take it as "someone's preparing to sue me before we even begin".

However, if you couched it with "I have an ethical obligation to object to this from any service provider", they may have taken it differently.

Upon entering into a business arrangement with someone, you asked questions to clarify the terms of that arrangement... How dare you, sir? 😆

It sounds playing the "hero healer" has inflated his ego to the point that he's forgotten that he's also running a business.

Hilarious.

Pull his medical license.

I guess expecting to have human concerns matter was a bridge too far for this doctor?

I hope you find someone good soon.

He doesn't seem to understand that a patient entrusts their body to them, their life and limb, literally. That's scary, it's why a lot of people avoid healthcare. How can someone practise therapy without being aware of that?

If a patient needs an answer to a legal question to be able to trust you, you give them the answer and try to assuage any concerns.

This response is complete shit. I'm sorry.

I've taken to requesting paper copies of anything I'm going to sign, then striking anything I don't agree with, initialing the strike outs, then taking a photograph of the paperwork before handing it in.

You would *not* be surprised to see how many practices do not care that you've stricken sections of their agreements from the agreement. No one teaches the admins to refuse service on altered contracts. <shrug>

There is a contempt of patients built into health care culture, in spite of their own constant efforts to paint themselves as heroes. Some providers manage to avoid this, but they are rare in my experience.

This denial of service is nonsense. While trying to make it sound like you are a threat to him, what he means is that you won't allow him to be a threat to you. It's glib gaslighting. To say you threatened him is outrageous.

You dodged a bullet.

Wow, that simple question is perceived as a legal threat?

Maybe I'm blissfully ignorant here on the frosty side of the border, but their response seems more akin to you brandishing a weapon.

Also there is an aspect that you made the doc waste 40min of unpaid(?) work, that they don't like doing (or even hate).

From a typical person perspective it's normal to be angry at the question "Can I sue you?"

@pluralistic

So, he took the time to check before canceling, and then implied he cancelled *because he might get sued".

Does that suggest that he might *not* have canceled if he did have arbitration? 🙄

@Ehay2k @AlsoPaisleyCat @bendelarre

For the record, he also had a $300 fee for an initial consult, which was due if you cancelled with less than 1 day's notice.

Which means that if I'd come to his office, seen an offending clause in his paperwork, and walked out, I'd have owed him $300.

I'm guessing that your question, to him, sounded something like "So, what is the mechanism, should I decide to sue you?"

I know that wasn't your intention, but I can understand him being a bit freaked out.

This reminds me that Epic (makers of MyChart in the US) are putting a binding arbitration and class action waiver in their new Epic ID when patients to sign to see their medical records: central.mychart.org/MyChart/ap…

Epic holds somewhere around 80% of patient records in the US, prospect.org/health/2024-10-01… and is also in Canada and the EU.

An Epic Dystopia

How a near-monopoly gained control of most of the nation’s electronic medical records, to the detriment of medical practice and doctor morale

^{Robert Kuttner (The American Prospect)}