California Er Doctor Seen On Video Mocking Patient During Anxiety Attack

[margarita25]

California ER doctor seen on video mocking patient during anxiety attack

"LOS GATOS, Calif. — A Northern California emergency room doctor has been suspended after cursing and mocking a man who said he had an anxiety attack.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that Dr. Beth Keegstra, a contract doctor with El Camino Hospital in Los Gatos, was suspended after she was recorded on June 11 questioning whether 20-year-old Samuel Bardwell was sick or just looking for drugs."

 

[keeleydoll]

California ER doctor seen on video mocking patient during anxiety attack

"LOS GATOS, Calif. — A Northern California emergency room doctor has been suspended after cursing and mocking a man who said he had an anxiety attack.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that Dr. Beth Keegstra, a contract doctor with El Camino Hospital in Los Gatos, was suspended after she was recorded on June 11 questioning whether 20-year-old Samuel Bardwell was sick or just looking for drugs."

Good grief! She did end up fired https://nypost.com/video/er-doctor-fired-after-badgering-20-year-old-patient/

This is infuriating to me. I’ve ended up finally going the route of an adaptogenic herb (not in a medical me state, boo) to deal with debilitating anxiety because the only pharmaceutical anyone ever wanted to give me was Xanax and I can’t take it. I just fall asleep. Once I had kids the anxiety got significantly worse even more so because I knew I count take my prescription because I had kids to take care of. If I’d ever had a dr treat me like this, I’d have never wanted to leave the house again!

 

[Hazelnutty]

How awful! I'm sure this place sees it's share of narcotic seekers& feel their time is wasted by dealing with them. However, her attitude & behavior was uncalled for.

I hope he is reimbursed for whatever he or his insurance paid for this kockadoodie woman's time.

 

[2Hope4]

I'm seeing red!!! The sad thing is that there are doctors all over acting this frigging ignorant! I had a doctor tell me my daughter COULD stop her anxiety attack anytime she wanted, and just didn't want to. She was hyperventilating, couldn't respond, etc, and the doctor refused to do anything. He put her in a the hallway to embarrass her! I flew into a rage. Within a few minutes of getting an IM med, she was able to respond, and said she could hear everything that happened but couldn't say anything or do anything. She did and will pass out hyperventilating during an anxiety attack. The ER doc said "good, then she'll be breathing correctly if she passes out" Oh I didn't realize I still had some much anger!!!!!!!

 

[?mysterian?]

Not only deserved to be fired, but needs her medical license revoked permanently, IMO. Isn't the saying: "First do no harm"?

 

[flourish]

I am just enraged after watching as much of that video as I could handle. As someone who suffers with depression and anxiety, I'm just appalled that in this day and age a medical professional treats someone with mental illness like that?!?!?!?

Reminds me of one time I was at the pharmacy picking up my anti-depressants. I had no insurance at the time, and was getting into a prescription plan thing where I would pay less, but for the time being, I was paying out of pocket. The pharmacist had the audacity to say, "Oh, you don't have insurance, so this is going to be like almost $200. Are you sure you really need this?" I was aghast and wasn't even sure what to say....I finally sputtered something about how I needed to get out of bed and function, so yeah I kinda need my meds.

Do they question non-insured diabetics about whether or not they're really sure they need their insulin???? Ugh. Makes me so livid!!! Then when people commit suicide or freak out and do horrible things, people are all, "why didn't they seek help?" THIS IS WHY.

 

[Confusion]

Unfortunately, there are a lot of doctors who don't take anxiety/panic attacks seriously. My son was sent to detox a few times because of his behavior, even though his tox screens were all clear. They finally started paying more serious attention to him when they got a call from detox one day complaining about them sending him there. He had a grand mal seizure while there and they had to send him to a different hospital's emergency room. It turned out that his problems were a combination of panic attacks and reactions to the meds he took for them.

 

[nrdsb4]

Not only deserved to be fired, but needs her medical license revoked permanently, IMO. Isn't the saying: "First do no harm"?

That seems really extreme to take away someone's livelihood over what clearly appears to be a bad case of burnout. I don't work ER, but I belong to a nursing forum where there are multiple threads dealing with the unbelievable challenges that come with working ER. Among them are drug seeking patients who come to the ER complaining of conditions that are not accompanied by the expected symptoms. ER staff are constantly besieged by drug seekers or other people who are emotionally needy and just want the interaction or actually just need to see a regular doctor during normal hours but use the ER instead, driving up costs and waiting times. These doctors and nurses end up stressed out and bitter, and if their frustrations are not confronted and addressed, can lose all their compassion. Most doctors and nurses don't get into the business of healing with the intention of becoming hardened to suffering. What this doctor needs is education, sensitivity training, probably a long vacation, and perhaps a change of specialty. NOT losing her medical license permanently.

I could never work ER. I'd go nuts with all of the BS they have to put up with.

This incident was discussed in detail on the nursing forum and most ER nurses agreed that his symptoms as described don't add up to an emergent medical situation. However, he could have been sent home with his prescription that he usually takes, given something to help relax him, and not manhandled into submission. No matter what , though, this kind of thing comes with the territory, the docs know it, and patients deserve better than this. But let's not deprive someone of their living without at least trying some remediation first. JMO.

 

[Rose in SC]

flourish - Great post!

I also suffer from depression and anxiety and doctors like this are one of the main reasons I suffer alone, at home, unmedicated. Fortunately, I have found that giving up sugar, soda, and refined carbs has helped tremendously. A good doctor is so hard to find.

 

[nrdsb4]

flourish - Great post!

I also suffer from depression and anxiety and doctors like this are one of the main reasons I suffer alone, at home, unmedicated. Fortunately, I have found that giving up sugar, soda, and refined carbs has helped tremendously. A good doctor is so hard to find.

My daughter is not in med school, but is 5 years into her Ph.D., specializing in anxiety and depression. Her program takes this very seriously and doesn't treat patients as inconveniences. There are all kinds of non pharmacologic interventions available nowadays to help with depression and anxiety. You have hit upon one of them with your diet changes. I wonder if you have access to a local research university. There you could access people who are dedicated specifically to this problem and who are not yet cynical and jaded.

I think a medical ER is probably the worst place for someone having an anxiety attack to go to.