Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by christy on February 9, 2013 at 5:14pm

I agree the ONLY doctors I have ever have want to view breast or genitals was my ob/gyn and surgeon for the lump that was removed. A GP may do such an exam IF you are not seeing a gyn for the female parts but I've never had a Dr in the treatment of Diabetes want to see how developed or not I was in the female parts. We can debate whether their was medical necessity in it or not, but the fact remains IF it made the OP feel uncomfortable, taken advantaged of, or perhaps abused in anyway then she should and needs to report it. Dr's are in a position of trust, and if they use their authority or position as a means of abuse, fear, intimidation, taking advantage of, etc. Then that is unacceptable.

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Permalink Reply by Sam on February 9, 2013 at 5:44pm

That hasn't been my personal experience. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've been to a doctors office and they haven't examined there--- I have never been to an endocrinologist, but its been pretty standard primary care in my experience

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Permalink Reply by sh4dowdrifter on February 9, 2013 at 5:53pm

I am not agreeing or disagreeing with this discussion as I have my own view. However, never in 31 years except when I have gone to a ob/gyn or asked my internal med doc have my breasts, or other parts been asked to be exposed. Now in a ob/gyn's scope of practice this is normal this is what they do. My internal medicine doc at the time was my only physician and I had no one else to check for the lump on my breast. However, I asked for the exam it wasn't immediate and he did not ask and when he did the exam he had a nurse in the room. I don't know like others have said we can debate this all day long but if the OP felt uncomfortable or taken advantage of in anyway it should be reported. Others may have had the same experience and be just as not sure as the OP at if they should report it.

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Permalink Reply by Sam on February 9, 2013 at 7:04pm

I guess the standards must be different for men and women... 3 out of the 4 most recent annual physicals I've had for my work have been done by female practitioners. All of which did thorough genital examinations... and no there is no past history of any issue that would have made me think it was anything other than standard operating procedure.

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Permalink Reply by christy on February 9, 2013 at 7:15pm

A genital exam for a male is pretty standard for a physical though. Males don't really have specialized Dr's (OB/Gyn's) for that kind of thing, well maybe a Urologist, but that's usually MORE if there are problems. So for a male part of the normal physical exam by a GP would be a testicular exam, make sure there are no lumps or bumps anywhere, and even a prostate exam. But we aren't talking genital/breast exam as part of a routine physical here, we are talking about it as part of an diabetes work up, which to me in my professional opinion as a health care worker, kinda bizarre.

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Permalink Reply by christy on February 9, 2013 at 7:12pm

The main reason why my GP doesn't do it, is because I get that part of my health care done by my Gyn. I see both once a year. I mean with the breast lump that was a new condition, so yeah lol I got examined by quite a few Dr's for that. Even my Oncologist. But there's no need if I'm seeing the Gyn for my female health, the GP needs to repeat it, especially if I'm not having any problems or issues.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Iam on February 9, 2013 at 8:50pm

The OP's question was if she had been taken advantage of. The doctor's behavior may not have been illegal, and technically have fallen into this very broad definition of "standard of care", yet can still be wrong and an abuse.

He did ask permission but seemed to push me even more when I asked why it was necessary.

This just doesn't sound right. In retrospect, probably a good time to walk out of the room. At 18, I'm sure few of us would have had the presence of mind to do so. Not sure if this is actionable, but yes, something wrong here.

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Permalink Reply by rick phillips on February 9, 2013 at 8:18pm

I am male and yes I have had a genital check when starting with a new Endo. For the male it was designed to obvious venereal disease, and I believe for a descending testicle. I was found to have the testicle issue and before anyone asks, and no no VD. Now i do not know the need to do this and it happened with a young Endo. My guess is that it is not standard. Was it abuse? I am guessing not. If these checks became a normal thing, then yes call the AMA. If not, and you see him regularity I would say no abuse.

That is just my humble opinion.

Rick

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Permalink Reply by christy on February 9, 2013 at 8:25pm

I have heard of a few cases of very YOUNG girls like 7 or 8 with a condition called precocious puberty, and sometimes an Endo might do a work up in regards to that, but the OP stated she was 18 and it was for Diabetes.

As a medical term, precocious puberty describes puberty occurring at an unusually early age. In most of these children, the process is normal in every respect except the unusually early age, and simply represents a variation of normal development. In a minority of children, the early development is triggered by a disease such as a tumor or injury of the brain. Even in instances where there is no disease, unusually early puberty can have adverse effects on social behavior and psychological development, can reduce adult height potential, and may shift some lifelong health risks. Central precocious puberty can be treated by suppressing the pituitary hormones that induce sex steroid production.

I doubt the Dr was concerned for this condition at 18.

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Permalink Reply by Stemwinder on February 9, 2013 at 9:51pm

I see several guys posting about a GP doing genital exams and all I can say is if they don't do it it probally won't get done because most guys would not see another doctor for that purpose. I know I wouldn't unless I thought there was a problem.

For the OP I do feel this was unusal and my question was did anyone else, such as a nurse, witness the exam. If so I would feel comfortable that it was legit. I would expect an observer to know if this exam was above board. If this was done in private I would have serious questions.

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Permalink Reply by rick phillips on February 11, 2013 at 7:24pm

Interesting you should say that about Male's not getting this exam done unless it is done at the time of initial screening. I remember that i read somewhere that diabetic males tend to have a greater issue with swollen testicles.

Now what is funny about it, I sort of saw this doc for about five years and one day I woke up and man I was hurting. I stumbled out of bed and one of my testicles was swollen like three times the normal size. So I went on to work and called the doc the minute his office opened. He got me in right away and in an hour or so I made it to the docs office.

Well he said I had an infection, I needed to take time off and take an antibiotic, put ice on it and stay off my feet for like a week. I looked at him like he was crazy. I said listen I cant take a week off, I have work to do. He looked at me with a slight smile and he said sure if you have work to do go right back to work and keep going. Then tomorrow dribble your basketball back in here and we will see if it needs an amputation or if you can install a small court that you can dunk on anytime you want. LOL

I went home. I do not know about women, but I do know from experience that infection can show up in several areas of the body that might be seen as requiring a get to know you look see.

By the way, I went home and this happened about four times in my 20's but not since. Yet, I went ahead and put in that unique basketball court he talked about. True to form I can dunk every time. LOL

Rick

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Permalink Reply by christy on February 11, 2013 at 9:54pm

I think for women, I know from personal experience. I'd MUCH rather go to the Ob/Gyn for the lady part examinations, and on my own personal experience even though they aren't FUN examinations, every Gyn male or female I've been to has ALWAYS had a nurse or medical assistant in the room, and based on my own experiences, I've had more physically comfortable exams with male Dr's than the female Dr's. The female Dr's can get a little rough down there. But once again, I've never had this sort of exam in relation to my diabetes, and how I was "developing" down there. When I was diagnosed I was like 10, so they kinda kept a check on "menstrual" history sort of thing, but that's as far as it ever went. I suppose if I had had a significant delay in my cycles I guess it could them prompt further examination, but as far as "developmental delay" goes... I think just a simple history of how old were you when u had your first menstrual cycle, do you have regular cycles could have been sufficient.

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