false std
What would u do in this situation?
So earlier this year while I wasn’t sexually active i had gotten this skin tag looking thing on my labia majora. I went to one of my gynos who is a male and without testing me he immediately told me it was hpv. He told me if I had gotten the gardasil vaccine this wouldn’t have happened (which i told him i am almost certain i have had the gardasil vaccine)..and it pretty much felt like he was shaming me. Anyways, he treats it as if it were hpv and sends me home. I’m so upset because I haven’t been sexually active in forever so why all of a sudden is this happening. I tell my best friend about it and even a guy I had slept with that I’m still close with. Well months go by and it’s still there so I reschedule another appointment to get it removed. This time when I go I have a female gyno. Right when she sees it she dismisses it as hpv. She removes it and says she will test it to be sure but she is almost positive it’s just an ingrown hair/skin tag. Test comes back-not hpv. Now I’m pissed because I’ve already been told that it was IN FACT hpv, and I’ve confided in the guy I’ve slept with that I’ve had hpv. How would you react to this?
4 comments
You can sue him.
Post a review on the Dr.’s Google and Yelp page, just use facts and tell your experience. Other than that you could talk to a malpractice attorney and see if there’s anything actionable.
Sorry you went through that. I’m not a very litigious person so I’d probably leave it at a bad review. Only you know how you feel about it though and how deeply it affected you.
It’s possible that the second doctor more easily made the correct diagnosis by having the added bit of information that the growth persisted for months. It does still seem irresponsible that the first one just called it HPV and left it at that.
My wife had an abnormal pap smear. When the nurse gave her the results over the phone, my wife asked the nurse what it meant and the nurse simply said, “Probably HPV.” No mention whatsoever that a recent infection and a handful of other things can also easily cause an abnormal result. That turned out to be the case. We’ve been married for 20+ years and presumably only ever been with each other so that was a rather unpleasant evening until I suggested we look up other potential reasons for abnormal readings. Even then, it sucked waiting for follow up testing.
Complain to his superiors.
That second doc, or one of the receptionists can tell you the best way to do that (email, letter, to whom…). This might not rise to the level of filing a complaint with your state medical board, but his superiors should know how he “treats” patients.
It’s unfortunate that there is any burden on you to act, but he probably gets away with this kind of thing regularly, and will continue to do so unless he is held accountable in some way.