My vision, clear in the morning, had a tendency to get blurry as the day progressed. Bcereus, our forum’s official eye doc, indicated that his best long-distance diagnosis was chronic dry-eye, and he said that given a chance to examine me, if his educated guess was correct, he would prescribe Restasis.

So off to a local ophthalmologist I go. Terrible experience with a screwy staff girl, but I came away from it with a diagnosis that did not agree with bcereus and a referral to another ophthalmologist who would be able to treat the incorrectly diagnosed condition.

I go to the new doc. There’s a TON of “new patient” paperwork; one form is a waiver that states, in effect, that no matter what the doc does wrong, it’s my fault for being there in the first place and I promise not to bring a malpractice suit.

Huh? Now, I have never been involved in a lawsuit with a health care provider in my 80-year lifetime, but it seems to me that agreeing to let this doc do anything wrong with no consequences, is not a really good idea. So I turn in the mountain of paperwork without this one particular form.

Seems that the front desk girls have been trained to look for new patients who “inadvertently overlook” this form. A discussion with the office manager (who just happens to be the doc’s husband) takes place, during which I am informed that the doc will not even come into the exam room with me if I do not sign that form.

OK, no problem, I am a cooperative, non-confrontational type guy. I scrawl something on the signature line. Not my name, I don’t write that, my “autograph” says: “Signature coerced.” Mr. Doc’s husband doesn’t bother to look at it to see what I wrote, he just observed that I “signed” something and he was satisfied.

Into the exam room. Doc comes in. Not at all like her husband, she was pleasant and professional. Her exam negated the incorrect diagnosis of the first ophthalmologist and agreed with SIGforum eye doc, bcereus. She prescribes Restasis, just as bcereus indicated, and sends the order to Publix pharmacy.

I go to pick it up and it’s not there. Pharmacist says, “Oh, we didn’t know if you would really want this. It’s very expensive.”

I stood there for a minute or two, not knowing how to respond, finally boiled my reply down to six words: “How soon can you get it?”

OK, I pick it up the nest day. Take the stuff home. I read the label.

Bear in mind that the original complaint was blurred vision.

The cautionary note on the label says, "THIS MEDICINE MAY CAUSE BLURRED VISION.”

Help me. Please. Somebody help me.

I am sorry to tell you that you have experienced the new era of modern legalistic medicine.
Unfortunately there is no cure for this disease.


Most of the medicines I take have warning attached which tell me they are not to be used with the other medicines I take, or that they may cause the conditions I am trying to alleviate.
If I read the small print I find that my cause is lost.

My doc recently commented about my dry eye situation with first some background:

Tears have three main components: The lachrymal gland produces a watery component, glands in our eyelids produce an oily component, while other cells produce a mucus.
These mix together to create a film which covers the white of the eye and the cornea.
When we blink, the film is wiped across the eye by the eyelids.
If insufficient tears are produced or the constituents are out of balance it can result in sore, dry eyes.

He opined that in my case the oily component appeared to be lacking and to try using a warm compress on the eyes for about 10 to 15 minutes to "open" up the oil production. So far it seems to work nicely. I admit to augmenting with either Refresh Optive or Similasan eye drops when more convenient.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:...
Bear in mind that the original complaint was blurred vision.

The cautionary note on the label says, "THIS MEDICINE MAY CAUSE BLURRED VISION.”...

Betcha didn't see that coming...

I don't know that "signature coerced" would have done you much good, legally speaking. I also don't know how much good a generalized release of liability, up front, without informed consent would have done the doctor.

Med-mal cases are, in many states, very hard to prevail in, even when negligence seems clear. People with valid claims can be shut out, and damages are limited to an absurd degree.

You can thank the medical associations and malpractice insurers for that, who have convinced dozens of state legislatures (and voters) that med-mal cases had run amok, and needed to be legislatively curtailed. It is, in my view, one of the best lobbying efforts by an industry seen in the last thirty or forty years.

And I am not a plaintiff's lawyer. I don't even defend those suits. I have no stake in the matter whatever. Many valid claims are shut out of the courthouse. The pendulum swung much too far to the defense side on this question.

quote:

<snip> case the oily component appeared to be lacking <snip> Refresh Optive or Similasan eye drops when more convenient.

For oil layer problems hot compresses combined with lid expression ( pressure with your index fingers horizontally against the closed lids against the lower orbital rim) followed by Cliridex wipes to clean the lid margins helps. You also ought to try Soothe XP or Systane Balance drops - they contain oil to mimic the problematic oil layer of your tears.

quote:

Originally posted by GJG:
You also ought to try Soothe XP or Systane Balance drops - they contain oil to mimic the problematic oil layer of your tears.

Thanks. I'll check those out. And yeah my Doc did mention that lid pressure but I didn't think I could adequately describe it in my earlier post. Best you professionals address it.

Hopefully some of this might help V-Tail too.

It's not just eye Docs. My back has been killing me for the last couple of days. Since i'm new to the area i went to a new chiropractor. They said i bond see the Dr in two weeks. Really?

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I don't know that "signature coerced" would have done you much good, legally speaking.

I did not sign the form. On the line where they expected to see my signature, with my name, the only thing written was "signature coerced." Not my name. If my name is not on the signature line, is there any way that anybody could claim that I signed the form? Unless they claim that my other name is "signature coerced."

I'm thinking that the signing of that said form, if needed, could bring up a very nice legal point that the sigforum lawyers could help you with. On the other hand, can you make that print bigger? my blurry eyes just can't seem to read it. Maybe I need something to help them, they feel dry.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:...
Bear in mind that the original complaint was blurred vision.

The cautionary note on the label says, "THIS MEDICINE MAY CAUSE BLURRED VISION.”...

Betcha didn't see that coming...

It's not made by Juggernaut Pharmaceuticals, is it?



-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I don't know that "signature coerced" would have done you much good, legally speaking.

I did not sign the form. On the line where they expected to see my signature, with my name, the only thing written was "signature coerced." Not my name. If my name is not on the signature line, is there any way that anybody could claim that I signed the form? Unless they claim that my other name is "signature coerced."

I misunderstood you. No, I don't think that signifies assent.

So you do have dry eye??
I posted an article in an earlier thread and the article and cure to increase eye tears.

http://www.lifeextension.com/M...Eye-Syndrome/Page-01

http://www.lifeextension.com/V...ort-with-MaquiBright

I take MacuGuard for eye health.

http://www.lifeextension.com/V...-Saffron-Astaxanthin

I had an issue (caused by prescription medicine side effects) several years ago where I had to go on Restasis for a year. I had blurry vision for about 5 minutes after using, but clear the rest of the day. After a year of not taking the prescription and using Restasis, my eyes produced enough tears on their own and Restasis was no longer needed.

Fwiw, signing a waiver may not prevent you from filing a medical malpractice claim.

In most med mal cases, the waiver is worth the paper it's printed on. Waivers do not proactively excuse a medical service provider's wrongdoing.

I had my upper eyelids trimmed back in Feb. My Dr. told me to use Refresh Plus for a month. Said if my eyes seemed to stay dry to continue using. Have been using the drops since then and my eyes haven't been dry at all.

Forgot. Remembered.

In Florida, look at the wall decorations. If you see a hanging that states that the Dr. does not carry malpractice insurance, you might be better served consulting another physician.

I was prescribed Restasis in the past and all I can pretty much remember is that it would burn the first drop or two in the beginning along with a very short period of blurry eye. I hope it works for you, not so much in my case.

Your post is very well written, which I admire, and also very entertaining, making me giggle snort and guffaw.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Your post is very well written, which I admire, and also very entertaining, making me giggle snort and guffaw.

Thanks. I do like, and respect, the English language.

I spent a working lifetime as a design engineer, starting at Bell Labs, and then some other places. Technical writing was part of the job. When writing System Requirement specs, it was important to be accurate and avoid ambiguity.

I also did a fair amount of teaching, and this included writing instructional material.

I tried to sneak humor in whenever I thought I could get away with it.

I remember some classics at Bell Labs. One in particular, unfortunately not mine, was the description of a complex component of a telephone switching system. The famous passage stated, "It would appear that <deleted for brevity>, but this is both a snare and a delusion."