Patients with physical disabilities are often surprised to find that medical professionals aren’t necessarily any less uninformed or callous about their disabilities than the laypeople they encounter every day. Unfortunately, these prejudices and ignorance can keep them from being properly diagnosed and treated for other medical conditions. In some cases, they may prevent them from getting medical care at all.
Many people with disabilities are shocked when they first experience a level of ignorance and discrimination they didn’t expect in a health care setting. Unfortunately, however, even doctors who treat patients for all kinds of conditions can have negative views – or at least uninformed ones – when it comes to disabled patients.
While family and friends may tell them they’re imagining such prejudices, doctors have been known to admit them. Just four years ago, The New York Times published an article that described focus groups in which doctors talked about the challenges of treating disabled patients. Some of their admissions may sound shocking – but not surprising to patients who have experienced them and similar embarrassments.
What some doctors say about disabled patients
Multiple doctors acknowledged that they looked for ways to avoid treating disabled patients without facing discrimination lawsuits. One of these involved telling certain patients they had closed their practice.
Doctors cited the extra amount of time that was needed for patients with even “mild to moderate” disabilities – time that they just didn’t have. Others cited extra expense, like having to hire a sign language interpreter. Many didn’t have scales that could weigh someone in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, they acknowledged referring these patients to a supermarket, zoo, cattle processing plant and grain elevator to be weighed.
Patients’ experiences confirmed these admissions. One said a doctor told him simply, “I really don’t know what to do with you. Maybe you should go elsewhere.”
How perceptions of disability lead to diagnostic mistakes
Even when disabled patients are seen by their doctors, those doctors sometimes connect any symptom they’re experiencing to their disability. This can lead to dangerous misdiagnoses or delays in correct diagnoses.
Unfortunately, some doctors may not even explore what might be an obvious diagnosis for a non-disabled person because of preconceived ideas they have about disability. They might not consider a sexually transmitted disease, for example, if they don’t think a disabled patient is sexually active.
Regardless of the reason for a misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose, if a doctor failed to meet the legal standard of care and a patient suffers harm as a result, the victim of this mistreatment may have grounds for a malpractice suit. Getting experienced legal guidance can help affected patients determine how to move forward accordingly.