Do a Lot of Medical Professionals Lie About Counseling?

Question

I went to health clinic to get birth control pills to treat my Endometriosis.

I requested a copy of my medical file from there and I noticed that in the "Counseling/Education Given" box, she checked off many things that we never discussed.

All she said was "Ok here is are your pills. We are putting you on Levora. Come back when you need a new pack and just show us this card" (Hands me a patient card)

She checked off the boxes: "safer s*x, smoking risks, Emergency Contraception discussed/Offered, STI/HIV Risk Reduction" She never discussed or mentioned any of those things.

I don't really care because I don't need any education on those issues.

However, I was just wondering.....Is this standard procedure? Do you think a lot of medical/health professionals check off boxes and write notes that they went over things when they never did?

I also noticed that the nurse practitioner that performed my pelvic exam also wrote that she discussed safter s*x with me, and she never did.

Are they just trying to cover themselves from a law suit? They don't feel like taking the time to discuss it so they just mark it off, thinking that people rarely will ever ask to see a copy of the file?

Answer 1

You hit the nail on the head.  They are covering their asses so they don't get sued.  I sure hope it's not standard practice.  That's incredibly disturbing.