ER Doctor Suspended After Mocking Patient Suffering From Anxiety Attack

[Judi Lynn]

Source: The Root

Terrell Jermaine Starr
Today 1:45pm

An emergency room physician has been suspended after a video of her mocking a patient claiming to be suffering from an anxiety attack was posted to Facebook, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

In the video, Dr. Beth Keegstra, of El Camino Hospital in Los Gatos, is seen doubting Samuel Bardwell’s account of what happened to him, saying, “You are the least sick of all the people who are here, who are dying. So you put your head up. Don’t try to tell me you can’t move. Come on. Sit up.”

She tries to force Bardwell to sit up by pulling at his arm, even though he clearly tells her that he is unable to.

“You want us to wheel you to tour house in a gurney?,” she asks him.



Read more: https://www.theroot.com/er-doctor-suspended-after-mocking-patient-suffering-fro-1826901510

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[Anon-C]

1. ...

Bardwell was hospitalized Monday after experiencing an anxiety attack after a basketball practice. His father, Donald, said Samuel has a history of anxiety attacks, for which he takes Klonopin. It treats seizures, panic disorder, and anxiety. Samuel had not been taking the sedative leading up the Monday anxiety attack.

“She never first came in and introduced herself,” Donald said. “She never said her name, she never asked for his name, she never really examined him.”

Keegstra even accused Donald and his son of coming in for drugs.

“She said, ‘I know why you people are here, you people who come here for drugs,’ and I said ‘What do you mean you people?’” Donald said. “She was rambling on so angrily that’s why I pulled out my phone.”

[appalachiablue]

8. News & Video of incident. Dr. Keegstra was suspended after the abusive visit..

[Judi Lynn]

20. Wow. Loathsome person. She has a real problem with people.

Can't imagine why on earth she is in the emergency room, where so many people are often in traumatic situations.

Dealing with her would make it far worse for anyone.

Thanks for providing this longer look.

"Make emergency rooms great again."

[yuiyoshida]

31. "Do no harm"

What happened to the Oath, that Doctors take?

[Purple Mountain Maje]

43. She ought to be terminated

And have her license yanked, all assets seized for reparations to the young man.

She should be banned from being a doctor.

Yes, first do no harm or there will be fricking consequences. This should be her consequence.

[arithia]

2. i've encountered this kind of crap all my life

There is still a prevailing belief among many medical professionals (usually older ones) that anxiety and mental illness are "personal weakness" and we should just "get up and over it". I've had medical professionals accuse me of digging for drugs just because of my prescription list, despite no evidence of abuse and years of blood tests monitoring my blood levels that indicate compliance. I've had others accuse me of lying and putting on a show even as my internal organs shut down from adverse reactions to medications.

The stigma is real and boy is it ugly. Doesn't matter how much comes out about genetics, epigenetics, the default mode network or neural pathway limitation, there are still assholes like this woman out there.

I'm glad this woman is being investigated. She will likely kill someone with psych issues if she hasn't already.

[a la izquierda]

32. Yep. I hear you.

I’m so grateful I have a great therapist and psychiatrist. “Just get over” a panic attack is a sure way to induce more for me.

[RobinA]

42. I Have Anxiety

(not attacks, thank goodness) and I am female. That's a first class ticket to not being taken seriously at the doctor's office, no matter what you are there for. Once I learned that I NEVER talk about anxiety or depression to doctors.

[arithia]

44. I hear that.

Bipolar II rapid cycle, anxiety and ptsd. It took several years for cardiac specialists to diagnose the heart condition my osteopath primary care physician caught on ekg because, and I quote "You're young, you're female, you have psych issues... it's all in your head."

How many of us learn to shut up, suffer in silence and never seek treatment because of assholes like this? The stigmas gotta go!

[Aristus]

3. Unfortunately, there are people out there who throw what we call 'pseudo-seizures' as a way

of scoring benzodiazipine medications.

We're constantly on the lookout for them, in primary care as well as emergency medicine.

I don't think this doctor exercised good clinical judgement in this case, however.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. She didn't make much of an effort to figure out whether that was the case.

She just argued with and insulted the guy. There must be better ways of evaluating whether someone is drug-seeking than claiming "you people" only come in looking for drugs, and dropping the F-bomb. She was extremely unprofessional.

[Aristus]

6. Exactly.

And just as drug-scammers make it difficult for those who have a genuine need for such medications, medical care providers like her cast all of us into suspicion as heartless monsters.

[FarPoint]

10. Yes. That is true.

Makes treatment assessment a huge challenge.

[Anon-C]

12. The "making the black people wait arbitrarily" trope may have been the staff consulting on their

suspicions that these guys were out to score benzos?

https://cbsloc.al/2LR5yJA


And the "you people" was in reference to such scammers?

What triggered their profile? Are most people abusing this drug young and black?

[Aristus]

16. Not in my experience. I can't speak for hers.

Actually, most of the drug-scammers I've had coming in have been white. And I serve an ethnically-diverse population.

[eggplant]

17. Trying to score a single klonopin shouldn't be the metric.

They weren't looking for an Rx, just a quiet room and a benzo for an acute attack.

[Aristus]

19. I agree.

Anyone with adequate medical training can distinguish a scammer's pseudo-seizure from the real thing.

I'm getting a 'last-in-her-class' vibe from that doctor.

[eggplant]

34. I've experienced similar idiocy.

My wife suffers from chronic migraines (now fairly well controlled, but there was a year which took her out), but she CAN'T take opioids -- they make her horribly sick. So we show up at an ER after a 5 day protracted migraine for her last ditch solution, an IV cocktail of benedryl, reglan, and toridol, and make it absolutely clear we don't want opioids, just this cocktail, and they stick us in the room with the one way mirror and make us wait. And then they try to give her dilaudid. Seriously? Did you hear nothing we were saying?

[moriah]

45. In your experience, is it usually the pt or doc who drops the f-bomb first?

That's what was interesting to me.

That a doctor would get so mad at people who weren't cursing at her, who weren't yelling, etc. Was it being recorded that made her so angry? If that's the case, if you're doing everything right, you don't have anything to fear from a recording.

I can imagine usually the reverse is true. If someone's exhibiting what seems like drug-seeking behavior and is abusive to staff verbally, I could understand an f-bomb back, but not starting it.

What's worse is that IMHO a doctor could miss something fairly serious. Say, if each are happening after exertion, and they were told it was "just anxiety" last time... yes, it takes from helping those circling the drain in other cubes, but perhaps looking again at the previous visit. How long ago was it, what workup if any was done? Do they actually have Frequent Flyer status? This was a Monday apparently, not the weekend.

Then make your judgement call, before dropping the f-bomb on pts not cussing at you. Even if that's just the excuse in your head if you're really that mad, to avoid it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. How do you even get to be a doctor with an attitude like that?

I hope they complain to the medical board as well as the hospital, because that nasty rhymes-with-witch doesn't have any business within a mile of a patient, and especially not ER patients. If she wants to work in medicine, she should be a pathologist or a medical examiner and stay the hell away from anybody who isn't dead.

[unblock]

9. the saying goes, they don't teach bedside manner in medical school.

technically, i'm sure they do teach professional behavior, but clearly the emphasis is on technical knowledge and capabilities rather than on bedside manner.

in any event, plenty of doctors lack the human touch, and in fact, many patients seem to think that the more obnoxious the doctor, the better they must be technically.

[appalachiablue]

13. The doc has been suspended according to the news video report above.

Given the abusive, incompetent handling of the case & general manner, I'm not sure she's capable of any medical work.

I wouldn't let her touch my pets if she was a veterinary doctor.

[matt819]

18. Remember this classic line from Dear Abby

Half of all doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class.

[George II]

7. When I worked in an ER on weekends about 40 years ago, that was almost SOP. The night shift...

...nurses and doctors were not always compassionate with some of the patients.

This was the overnight shift on Fridays and Saturdays in Manhattan, a crazy time in an ER (drunks, muggings, overdoses, car accidents, etc.) so they sometimes tended to be on edge.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. She spent more time berating the guy than it would have taken

to ask him some questions about his medical history and drug prescriptions in order to determine what, if anything was wrong with him and whether he needed help.

[Judi Lynn]

24. Hope someone points that out to her in her own circle of acquaintances. She needs to hear it.

Something is missing in her respect for life. One doesn't expect to see that from someone practicing medicine.

[Demsrule86]

22. My daughter who was not drinking broke both ankle in a fall off a bleacher ..concert.

It was outdoors and her Dad ran over and spilled his beer on her. Well I get to the hospital and I find my daughter on the floor...the nurse told her to get to the bathroom as best she could and maybe she won't drink so much next time. She fell and maybe it wasn't a compound fracture before that. I went down to the station and raised holy hell...they immediately sent the nurse home.I later wrote a letter about her malpractice...the bottom line is she assumed she had the right to sit in judgement on my daughter and she was wrong in this case but even if she wasn't wrong she had no right to do what she did...I did hear she was fired and she should find a new job not in healthcare. I am sick of hearing these sort of stories...there is no excuse. People who behave this way need to find a new vocation. And hospitals should consider that they are responsible for this stuff and will be sued.

[Hortensis]

28. Good for you! And eventually the hospital.

[Oneironaut]

14. Let's all be honest - it's because he was black.

Therefore, he was instantly assumed to be a drug addict.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. All the more reason why she shouldn't be allowed to work in an emergency room.

She's mean AND racist.

[Renew Deal]

21. Are physicians trained on mental health?

And how deep is the training?

[Demsrule86]

23. I told my younger daughter's story...and the fact is there is very little mental health care in this

country...I understood it when my daughter suffered depression...it was hell.

[keepleft101]

25. This is just awful

I suffer from anxiety attacks and I’ve been in emergency room on several occasions I cannot imagine a doctor acted that way to me. I feel really bad for the patient and the family.

[still_one]

26. While racial profiling is probably a factor here, the sad reality is this occurance is the sad state

Last edited Mon Jun 18, 2018, 08:10 AM - Edit history (1)

state of affairs among attitudes among some physicians, regardless of ethinicity

They lack a sense of compassion and sensitivity that should be a requirement of any practicing physician, and even if they suspect the patient is just there to obtain drugs, and not treat a condition, this is an ER physician, and they should be trying to contact the patient's PCP, but no matter what the circumstances should any patient be treated this way

[Boomer]

40. White poor people get similar assumptions

I live in West Virginia and we've had some really unpleasant experiences in the ER. My wife was in considerable pain and even though we TOLD them that she does not react well to painkillers and that we were more worried about finding the cause of the pain, the attending physician assumed she was faking for drugs.

We were dressed pretty roughly that day, so it was pretty obvious he had pegged us as poor white trash and stopped caring or paying attention.

[still_one]

41. That is why I think it is important to have an advocate with you. In California patients have

certain rights:

http://www.calhospital.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/patientrights_english_1.pdf

https://www.calhospital.org/patient-rights

[The Genealogist]

27. Anxiety attacks are awful

If you've had one, you know what I am talking about. The first major one I had involved everything around me becoming very surreal, like reality was all warped. I felt like I was going to die. I can still remember the coppery taste in my mouth. I had to run out of a room full of people, it was like everything and everyone was closing in on me. I was shaking, my whole body felt hot. I work out, and I was more out of breath than after 20 minutes of strenuous cardio. I felt fear like nothing I'd felt before. Even after the worst was past, I was emotinally drained and cried uncontrollably for a good hour. I've had other attacks since, and have been diagnosed with anxiety disorder. Anxiety attacks are nothing to laugh off, and mocking someone having an attack is just cruel.

[Hortensis]

30. That sounds terrible.

I don't suffer from anxiety, but I had what I felt had to have been an anxiety attack once anyway, though it was a lot milder than yours.

Mine was basically that I felt as if I was having trouble breathing, and of course a pervasive feeling of anxiety. I decided to get up and work a bit because I normally found that calm and relaxing, but it got worse, extremely uncomfortable to the point that I couldn't think of anything but breathing and that my husband would have to take me to the ER it if it got even a tiny bit worse (and longed to be there anyway). I tried pouring myself a drink and turning on the TV, and it went off.

I knew people did have anxiety attacks, though, so I've always felt it was useful to have experienced something of what they do. I certainly understand how it can force someone to the ER, like this poor person.

Hope you get a good response to whatever treatment you use.

[The Genealogist]

38. I take very mild meds now

They did have me on more powerful meds up til about 10 years ago.

[a la izquierda]

33. I thought I was havin a heart attack.

And I was 35000 feet up. It was the stuff nightmares are made of.

[Rhiannon12866]

37. Same thing happened to me, back in the day

I was also on a plane, New York to Helsinki. I told the flight attendant I thought I was having a heart attack (I was barely 30) and she told me she'd seen them and I wasn't. I asked how much longer the flight was and she said 6 hours! They moved me to a seat up front with a curtain and one of them sat and talked with me for the rest of the flight, I'll never forget their kindness - and I definitely recommend flying Finnair!

[The Genealogist]

39. That sounds terrible!

[Frances]

29. Bad experience at El Camino ER

About 6 years ago El Camino Hospital sent my white 82 year old husband home too soon. When he fainted the next am I took him to Urgent Care who called an ambulance to take him back to El Camino, the nearest hospital. I explained that El Camino didn’t want my husband even though we had insurance. I was told that my husbands blood pressure was so low that the law required the hospital to take him. I guess someone at Urgent Care called the ER because my husband was treated like royalty when we got there

[Raine]

36. Disgusting this woman is allowed to "practice" medicine

she should consider herself lucky that she's not prone to anxiety attacks, they're horrible, they're real and you feel like you're going to die!