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Did T want to help me or her mentor? (long)

Posted by rnny on April 26, 2010, at 20:44:12

I see a psychiatrist/sleep specialist for anti-depressants. In his suite, my T rents an office. She is not employed by him, she is a tenant. However she is close with the psychiatrist and refers to him as a 'mentor'. I don't know if she is in love with him or what. He is married to an MD himself who also happens to be a psychiatrist. His son is the office manager of the practice and his other son runs their sleep clinic which is right there on the premises. The doctor is board certified both as a psychiatrist and sleep disorders specialist.

The psychiatrist has 2 Physician Assistant's who work for him. As you know, a PA can prescribe medication and see a patient just like a doctor can, only the PA has to be under the immediate supervision of a doctor so as to be able to consult with the doctor. I have seen one of the PA's a couple of times about my medication.

The PA once told me, "If you ever get your prescription filled and the medication doesn't work for you, bring the leftovers to us. We have alot of people here who don't have insurance who we can give it to if they take the same kind of medication". I know this is illegal and I was not going to be a part of it but being kind of new to the place, I bit my tounge and just knodded my head that I understood what she was saying. Not nodding in agreement per se.

Today while talking to my T I mentioned that this practice that the doctor's office has is illegal and I wanted her (the T) to know that I don't approve of it. I mentioned it was a felony and was something the doctor and his relevant staff could be arrested for, lose their licenses and serve prison time. It was that severe.

She said to me, "You have to let Dr. (Blank) know about this. That you feel this way". I told her I wasn't going to let Dr. (Blank) know anything and she said, "Do you mind if I tell him". I was very concerned that she would consider telling the psychiatrist something she and I discussed and I told her, " I don't mind if you tell him, just do not mention my name." I later called her and told her that I did not want her to discuss it with him at all unless she was going to him as an individual on her own. In short, I did not feel comfortable with her going to him and saying "A patient of mine said.....".

She said that was fine and reassured me that she could be trusted not to involve me. But it worries me that she would have thought (with my approval I suppose) that talking to the psychiatrst about anything she and I speak about would be something she could do. I may see him as my psychiatrist but I see her as my T and what I say in her office, stays in her office. Just because I see two health care professionals under one roof, they are two separate businesses and she has no right to talk to him about me unless I approve or ask her to.

I am not sure why she wanted me to tell Dr. (Blank) my concerns. She went on to say that alot of people there don't have money and she was sure it was to help people because Dr. (Blank) is such a nice person. As I type this, I am not even sure that she was aware this practice was taking place. About them re-using patient medications for other patients. Incidentally, the PA (Physician Asst.) who told me to bring back any unused medication also told me they get alot of samples and sometimes the samples have expired in terms of the date but they will still use them. She gave me some samples once that had expired but assured me it was still safe to use them. The medication was a precription form of Melatonin, something you can buy over the counter in Walmart and I knew with that one, that the expiration date held very little water. Melatonin is not a chemical property that is likely to change it's makeup radically if a prescription date has expired. That cannot be said of all medications and I do remember her saying it depended on the medication and the expiration date as to whether they would still issue it to a patient.

All of this is alot to be concerned about but my main question is why would my T be anxious for me to talk to the psychiatrist about how I feel? She was suggesting to me that I was worried something might happen to him if he were to be caught so maybe she was trying to help me get this off my chest with him? Or was she trying to use me as a go between to spread the word to the psychiatrist that what he is doing is illegal.

What say you? How do you view it? I made it clear to her that I didn't want any funny business coming out of her office because I wouldn't tolerate it and she assured me that she doesn't run her practice the way the psychiatrist run's his. Still, why would she want me to face the psychiatrist and tell him my thoughts and feelings about the medication scheme? I know I can ask her. I can even call her if I find it intolerable to wait until next week. But I am OK, I think I can hold out.

I was just wondering your opinion on why she said to me "Oh, you have to let Dr. (Blank) know you feel this way". And when I said I wasn't going to why would she say then, "Would it be OK if I let him know"?

For someone who is very keen on everything being ethical and above board it is strange I haven't taken any action over this already. The reason I haven't is because it is a very serious problem and I don't want to become embroiled in it.

Any comments about any of this? In particular, about the T and her dramatic concern almost that I talk to Dr. (Blank) about this or if not, would it be OK if she did? I find that part the hardest to understand. The "Would it be OK if I did".

I am not sure what her motives were. That Dr. (Blank) hear it from someone with a legal backround that what he is doing is illegal or that she was concerned about me and me not feeling anxious. I am getting a feeling she was more concerned about the doctor being tipped off that he is doing something illegal instead of her caring about me.

You were not there and can't know any better than I, but what do these facts suggest to you?

Thanks for your opinion. Feel free to re-read this to get the story straight. It does sound complicated so it was hard for me to write it out in a way that can easily be understood, at least intellectually in terms of just the facts.

rnny


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Psycho-Babble Psychology | Framed

poster:rnny thread:945201
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20100425/msgs/945201.html