Continued from Part 1
Upon hearing this abject denial, I showed her the prescription and asked her to read the header at the top of the prescription. The header read, Johnson County Orthopedics, LLC. “Do you know what LLC means?” I quietly asked rhetorically. Before she could respond, I emphatically whispered, “It means, “Limited Liability Corporation, it is the state designation for a business, and a business that has been expressly formed to make a profit.
Yes, you are a business selling services to consumers like me. Your service did not work and so I’d like my money back. Simple as that.”
Reluctantly she admitted, “Well alright we may be a business, but she reiterated we do not have any salesman working here.” I replied, “When I shopped at your business last month, I met with one of your Doctors. He explained to me he was an expert, he had been doing this for 25 years; he was licensed and had degrees from 4 colleges. He sold me on his ability. He sold me on his diagnosis, he told me to go buy the Celebrex and he billed me for the work. Call him what you like, a Doctor or a salesman, but he was a smooth talker, and he sold me something.
Moreover, if he did not sell me something, what did you bill me for? I relied on his expertise to determine my needs. His services did not work and I’d like my money back.”
She sprang from her chair. She was quite tall. Her hair started to come loose.
Her eyes peered over the tops of her glasses that were glued to the front ridge of her nose; she looked me squarely in the eyes and said, quite unambiguously, “No Doctor gives refunds.”
Stay tuned for part III. Tomorrow.
Stay tuned for part III. Tomorrow.
You are paying for a doctors opinion (diagnosis, tests, prognosis). You got an opinion and it was your right to either follow, or not follow his opinion. However, you did get his opinion, which means you are inclined to pay for it. You are within your rights to get a second opinion if you were not happy with the results, but you are not within your rights to a refund of receiving that physicians opinion on what was best for you. No one forced you to follow the doctor's orders. You contacted and contracted that physician for his opinion, which is what you paid for. There are many other physicians you could have seen, but you didn't. You saw that one and paid for his opinion, at which point you chose to follow it.
ReplyDeleteFrom a 1st year Med Student