Absolutely not.
My family and I had been seeing Dr. Bulfinch for a year without issue, and then things got weird.
Long story short, I've never been dropped as a patient by anyone, but this guy dropped me as a patient--without notice--right before I was scheduled to come in to have my prescriptions renewed. In other words, my refills were almost out. Classy.
I've been taking a prescribed benzodiazepine for over ten years for anxiety, and I take it as prescribed. This wasn't an issue for the year that I saw Dr. Bulfinch, and it's never been an issue with any of my doctors in the past (probably because, as stated, I take it as prescribed, don't use recreational drugs, and don't even drink alcohol).
Out of the blue, he had me give a urine sample one day after an appointment. I thought it was a bit odd, but didn't really think much of it. About a week later, his nurse called me to say that I needed to come back in for another test, because the benzodiazepine wasn't showing up in my system.
As stated, I take this medication for anxiety, and I take it as prescribed. That phone call stressed me out tremendously, because there would be no reason for it to not show in my system. I was honestly very confused and upset, so I came in within an hour to give another sample.
When I showed up, I was told by the same nurse that there were traces of the benzodiazepine, but that there wasn't enough of a sample to go by. In other words, they needed a better sample. That's completely different from "there weren't any benzodiazepines present in the sample".
Soon after this, they called me again to come in and give a urine sample, and count all of my medications. I was told that it was a random selection of people who were asked to come in, etc. I've never experienced this in the many years that I've been on this medication, and I can't stress enough that the nurse was ineffective with her communication.
I'm a pretty mellow person, a stay at home mom who does pretty normal stuff. I honestly found it offensive, but I tried to be objective about it. His nurse was just so consistently unpleasant and misinformed (and entirely unapologetic about it) that I eventually started to become very frustrated with the situation (and with her demeanor and carelessness in particular).
There was a second time that this nurse told me that the benzodiazepines hadn't shown up in my sample, at which point I started asking who they were getting their lab results from--at which point she put me on hold, came back, and told me that she had misread my chart. She didn't apologize. It was like the more mistakes she made, the more defensive and unpleasant she became (which is saying a lot, considering her general demeanor is fairly unpleasant). As if it were somehow my fault that she was misreading my chart.
She was also not clear on the fact that I would need to bring my medications in every time I gave a sample, so that they could count them. I've never had to do that with any doctor, so it's not like I know the drill or something. The last time I had to go in to give them one of these samples, I was absolutely furious that she had neglected to tell me this, as it was near their closing time, and I needed to go back to my house to get all of my medications or come back the next morning. She argued with me about whether or not she had told me to bring in my medications, etc. If she hadn't had a track record of consistently making pretty asinine mistakes, I might have given her the benefit of the doubt.
My last interaction with her was not pleasant. I had absolutely had it with this woman calling me at home with incorrect information, coming in at a moment's notice when I have two kids at home to tend to, only to be treated rudely. I told her very pointedly that the next time she called me at home, she needed to have her information straight. Predictably, she started to argue with me, and I asked to not have to deal with her again.
So I guess that justifies abruptly dropping a patient, and saying "Oops, sorry if you have a seizure due to withdrawals from your medication, I can't be bothered to renew it for a month until you find a new doctor!"
I did find a new doctor, thankfully. This guy is amazing, and when I asked him at the end of our first appointment if he needed me to give him a urine sample, his response was almost annoyed. He said "No. We are not the police here, we are not here to judge anyone. I will trust you unless you give me a reason not to." This is how I'm accustomed to being treated by doctors, not like I'm some drug seeking creep.
My new doctor is helping me to get off of this medication, as it isn't worth the hassle anymore at this point. He does so in a way that allows me to lower my dosage in a way that doesn't impede my ability to live my life, and he's a very good person. I wouldn't send anyone to Selah Clinic due to my experiences with them. Absolutely not. read more
