Proposed creation of the "Slimeball award" thread

[Guest]

Totally. Frustrating as hell.

As an example of the flaws in our legal system, we bought a property 2 years ago... filled out all the forms as directed by our licensed real estate agent, and had our lawyer (who specializes in real estate transactions) to review the paperwork.

Now, we have been sent a letter from CRA (our version of the IRS) saying that the tax credit for $4400 that we received has been disallowed. Turns out there are 2 forms that can be filled out for this credit... the real estate agent had us fill out the wrong form. Our lawyer missed it. If we had filled out the correct form, all would be well since we ARE entitled to this credit (the dollar amount is the same regardless of which form is filled out). But now, it's too late for us to reapply (deadline had passed by the time CRA sent us the letter informing us of the error) so the government is not only asking us to repay the tax credit, but THEY ARE CHARGING US FREAKING INTEREST IN THE AMOUNT OF $600!!!

Inquired about suing since this is a large amount of money and the professionals who were supposed to ensure this kind of thing didn't happen failed to do so.

But guess what... were told that the legal fees we would incur on such an endeavor would amount to MORE than the $5000 the government has demanded we pay.

Plus, we can't sue for legal fees incurred. So basically, we're S.O.L. EVEN THOUGH WE ARE ENTITLED TO THE FREAKING TAX CREDIT... we just filled out the wrong form.

Good times.

[irish eyes]

Ariel

I know I’m being pedantic here but can I refer to your earlier post

As Gandhi is known to have said "All evil needs to triumph is for good people to do nothing"

The quote is actually attributed to 18th century political philosopher Edmund Burke - although I accept that it's been `quoted' by many in recent years. It is a call to arms for people to stop being complacent. I think the actual words are:

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

I’ve seen several doctors for 2nd, 3rd, 4th opinions and more. Yes, it’s frustrated me but they have done me no harm. I know that my eyes present a challenge for any doctor. Am I failing in my duty if I don’t name these people? Is it really in the public interest for me to name a doctor who hasn’t managed to `cure’ me? .

Are we to include alternative practitioners in this also? I regret spending too much cash on a homoeopath – who insisted she could `help’ my eyes. Knowing that one visit wouldn’t be enough, I saw her over a number of weeks before putting a stop to `experiments’ with remedies. She was out of her depth and she knew it, despite being a qualified practitioner for several years – she even taught the subject. But - I didn’t want to pillory her in public; I think she was embarrassed enough as it was. Instead, I approached the professional regulatory body to voice my concerns and left it at that.

My current consultant helped secure funding for autologous serum – even though decision making on resources was out of his hands. He may not have achieved the same result in recent weeks now budgets are under scrutiny. As I praise him, perhaps someone else is criticizing him. But he doesn’t deserve to be branded.

[Ariel]

How we rate our docs ***** ***** *****

I'd like to thank all of you for your posts as they've helped me re-think my idea from a more practical perspective.

I think that by simply mentioning a doctor's name in a thread with the name I proposed we'd be insulting him which clearly isn't something we need to be doing. For this thread to be useful to other DE patients our goal shouldn't be to launch angry attacks but to provide useful input about the quality of care we're getting.

A more appropriate name for it could be "How we rate our docs ***** ***** *****". The posts we include in it only need to mention a doctor's name, location, a 1-15 star rating, and a description of the treatment we're getting from him. The description can be as brief or as long as we choose but we should make it a rule that all neutral or unfavorable comments must be written in a respectful manner.

If you're greatly unsatisfied with a doctor you can post his name, give him one star, leave the comment blank or write something like "I don't think I received the kind of help I need" which will let the rest of us know how you feel without it being something a doctor can use to take legal action.

It may be helpful if it were possible for us to go to the same post we created about a certain doctor to make changes to it as often as we want to during the course of our treatment (new info, rating adjustment, etc.). For this to be possible the "editing function" for each poster should always be "on". All posts about a doctor from different posters should follow the first post that was written about him so when we find his name we'll be able to scroll down to read all the subsequent posts that were sent about him by other patients in the order in which they were initially created.


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Doctor's name: Mark Cross, MD.
City: New York
Rating: ***** **

Patient's comments: I visited Dr. Cross three times in the last six months and...
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[hirentherock]

Got an idea in my mind.
We can start it but let it be a new website where only doctors rating would be there...That wont risk our DE forum. That will be a secondary website.But the million dollar question is...who will book the domain? who will take the risk of booking domain name onto his/her name?

[Lucy]

I can't believe I missed this thread but I haven't stopped by much lately. First, I've "known" Rebecca for ten years since we both had Lasik and met on a board similar to this.

I was "there" when Rebecca's board(s) were started. What is discussed here is/was never a possibility. Rebecca must be preoccupied with personal health problems in her immediate family. I can say with certainty Rebecca would not let this board contain such things and say detremental info about doctors.

Please just let this go as some have stated above. It's not going to go anywhere so further discussion is probably a waste. I want to say I'm not speaking for Rebecca, but I am concerned that she hasn't intervened on this. I do know the personal responsibility has been very hard and taking much time and effort. Let's just cool it. Lucy

[Ariel]

Lucy--- An idea was presented. Different members have expressed their views about it so the idea has evolved. That's all that's happened and Rebecca, who's the one in charge, will take whatever action she thinks is appropriate which may very well be to put an end to our discussing. In the meanwhile all we've been doing is sharing our thoughts on the subject so you don't need to make it sound like we're a crazy mob walking around torch-in-hand.

[Rebecca Petris]

Wow, look what happens when I disappear for a few days :-)

I just got back from a vacation... wow, what a lovely time. A week of TOTAL disconnect, no phone, no email, no work, no nuttin'.

My mom and my daughter and I drove all the way around Washington state, almost 2,000 miles. Islands, mountains, farmland, rain forests, near desert... this is a state with amazing beauty and variety, if you're looking for someplace nice to visit

Regarding this thread: Thanks to all who participated. I've got a week's worth of stuff to catch up on so I cannot reply to you all individually but here are my comments to wrap up this discussion:

• This website and bulletin board will not include any doctor rating system.
• Negative reviews about named doctors are not acceptable here. This is not going to change.
• Positive reviews are allowed partly so that those who have had bad experiences can see there IS hope for good doctor-patient relationships even for people with dry eye, and partly to help people find a place to start if looking for another doctor. They are not intended to set expectations for anyone's experience with the doctor - just to give them some suggestions to investigate.

There are a lot of reasons for all this. Some are the obvious legal ones. Some just have to do with plain old courtesy, and with the spirit of this community. But there's something else too:

I know a lot of eye doctors. And I know a lot of their patients. Actually I know patients of pretty much any well-known "dry eye expert" in the country. I know of no doctor universally loved and revered by his/her patients. There is an amazing variety of experience and response among patients of every doctor no matter how good. One doctor comes to mind at an internationally known clinic who is absolutely abhorred by many people here at DEZ (in fact I had to remove negative posts) - but about whom I have also been told by one or two patients that this doctor is extremely compassionate and skilled! Other doctors who are dearly loved by a great many people I know, are distinct un-favorites with others here.

Just some food for thought. There are no real shortcuts to finding the "right" doctor for you. Difficult as it is, we have to develop our relationships with doctors as we would any other relationship: with investment and risk. No one else's experience in that relationship is a proxy for what our experience will be. I'm good with rating inanimate objects, but not people.

[hirentherock]

Thanks rebecca for ur VERDICT

[Ariel]

Well, at least we didn't brake the China...

Welcome back!!!

[Rebecca Petris]

Nope, no china broken

And in my late lunch break I have gone back and read this entire very interesting thread.

You know, Ariel, the legal risk from possible defamation in this forum (and I really appreciate how kind and protective everyone is of DEZ! may rightly or wrongly be enough on its own to nix the idea of posting reviews as you describe, but it's not really the main point to me personally.

You asked a couple of times why there should be any fundamental difference between rating a product or a service and rating a doctor... publicly. It's an interesting question which made me think. I'm sure there's a wide range of opinions. Personally where I'm coming from is a question of courtesy and respect. The doctor is not simply a product of a medical school or an instrument through which services are provided. S/he is a human being. I want to respect their feelings. And as professionals their reputation is a core asset, so I don't want to cause them harm. I like the lighting a candle idea. I don't want to hurt one person to help another just because I might think one person is more deserving than another.

[Ariel]

Hi Rebecca--- I want to thank you for reading the posts we exchanged during your absence and sharing your thoughts with us.

I would think that --even if you don't support the idea of us having a post in which we rate the treatment we're getting from our doctors-- you'll admit the overwhelming lack of training and DES knowledge that exists among eye doctors shouldn't be a secret.

It's bad enough that we're suffering from a condition that's complex and challenging to treat by a good specialist. Falling into the hands of someone who doesn't know squat about DES shouldn't be something for us to fear.

Dr. Latkany says on his book that ophthalmologists don't get much training in dry eye, which he later confirmed in a DEZ posting in which he said that all of his DE patients have already seen five doctors by the time they visit him. "If you've only seen three of them you still have two more to go before you come to me" A remark he made jokingly without showing any discomfort, which I didn't appreciate.

My recommendation, if you don't object to it, would be for every patient planning on visiting a new doctor to post a thread asking everyone who's seen him for feedback via PM.

I've gone through a good number of DE doctors in the most reputable hospitals and in this part of Europe I've only come across "caca". I first began asking doctors your question during my first visit. "Would you express my meibomian glands". Many doctors, hard to believe as it is, seemed to know less about the MGs than I did after spending a couple hours at the library, so I had to bring in my laptop to show them what I was talking about.

http://www.guldenophthalmics.com/ima...Expressor3.pdf

After a while I started asking them over the phone right at the beginning of the screening process, and since I started planning my first trip to Tokyo I've been hearing my girlfriend doing it in Japanese. ---I have no way of knowing if I'll find a good doctor there but asking the right questions can save a lot of headaches.