How many of you..

Its doctor patient confidentiality. As soon as you step in his office, everything, seen, said, or heard, must be kept confidential. NOONE except your doctor can see it, unless your a minor and they can only tell/show your parents, or are dead. Without the patients written consent NOONE else has access . And if that law isnt followed you just made a bunch of money. See also Lawyer/ Client confidentiality.

"Whatever, in connection with my professional service, or not in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret."- Oath of Hippocrates.

 

Like I said that's true to a point. When you sign those HIPPA papers you give them the right to tell your insurance company about health issues, effectively waving it. If you don't sign them your insurance company won't pay.

I do not, however, know of one single case where a doctor reported cannabis use, probably because it doesn't cause health problems

 

Ya i gotcha, I like to inform doctors fully of my background regardless, i went through rehab and struggled with prescriptions as a younger fella, so i like them to know about my liver damage, and also so they know not to prescribe me narcotics like xanax and oxy (in case i have a weak moment and try to get some), so i usually volunteer it anyways. thanks for the info man.

EDIT:

ya i used to believe in that until my Dr gave my parents the results of my drug test when I was 18. i didnt want to go through all of the effort of suing him, even though it was an open and shut case. he was a generally good guy and i liked his family and didnt want to ruin their lives for something their dad/husband did.

 

That's probably a case where it's smart to inform him. Good, responsible thinking

 

As for the bolded, not here in Oregon they can't. If you are a minor, the doctor-patient confidentiality stuff still applies, trust me. The only way your parents can find out is if you authorize the doctor to tell them, or bring them in the exam room with you.

I've told a doctor when I had a surgery, and I told my psychiatrist I'd rather be using MJ than Zoloft, so no one else knows. I don't think I've even told my GP. The biggest reason I won't ask my normal doc for a recommendation is because I don't want it getting back to my insurance. They don't need to know, especially when they have the power to approve/deny treatment in this situation. I never see my doctor anyways. I dislike doctor visits, to be honest. After seeing what my mom went through at hospitals and with insurance...ugh.

 

I don't have any hard evidence, and a Google search didn't get me far, but I think that is inaccurate. A doctor disclosing anything you tell them seems like a huge violation of doctor patient confidentiality.

I've told my primary doctor, my cardiologist, and I think even my dentist.

 

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well if you think about it, the doctors have to tell them somethings, so they know why they have to pay. I mean, it would be illegal for a Dr to tell a random person you had AIDS, but your insurance company has to know about it. I think thats the logic behind the law OSG said, they can only tell them about it if your smoking is causing health problems (which it wont) so they know why they are paying for your doctors visits.

 

I havnt seen a doctor in a few years , but if i did i'd proably deny . They'd blame everything on it .

 

No, no they wouldn't. The only cases I know of are people with lung conditions such as emphysema or COPD, in which case one should stick to edibles and vapes anyways.

Doctors don't go blaming things on cannabis. Hell a lot of them smoke it.

 

But don't most non-tokers think that mj can cause health problems? It doesn't matter what we think, it matters what our doctors and insurance companies think, they're the ones that have control over the issue.

 

i tell my doctors and never had a problem. they ask why i give em my reasons then no questions asked.

 

I have been to alot of different doctors for various things and I have never had one blame the weed for any of my health problems. Many of them were alright with me using it to medicate.

EDIT: Also, the average Dr is much more educated on marijuana than a bunch of anti marijuana advocates. They understand its benefits. Sometimes they will ask why I think I need it, but I just tell them its better than pharmaceuticals for me personally, and they are ok with it. At least in my experience

 

I know you have to sign a lot of forms now before they will even treat you and some of them say they have the right to provide information to insurance. I'm assuming insurance can deny a claim if the doctor doesn't provide enough information to satisfy them. Let's not forget that money talks. I would not volunteer any information such as illicit drug use to doctor that you are claiming against a medical insurance. If I pay for it out of pocket, then fine but when everything goes electronic even then you'll have to be careful. The push for electronic medical records isn't just for convenience. It's for data mining. I know this sounds big brother but it's the only logical progression when data is stored electronically. I'm asked if I use marijuana with every new doctor I have seen for last two years. I just find that odd.

 

HIPAA RESTRICTIONS AND MEDICAL RECORDS

Plus, I'm reading this like if you claim workers comp the carriers and work comp board now are able to gain information.

 

I've had some pretty serious health problems in the last decade. I've told all my Doctors and never had an insurance problem due to Doctor patient confidentiality

 

What's an issue is that if you had any prior injury before the workers comp claim then they may be able to subpeana your records from your treating doc. And depending on what type of claim then a partial or all records could be requested. Yes, any injury could result in a drug test. They are looking for ways to reduce cost and denying a claim is one of them. If you are claiming metal stress or whatever, then any meds you take could be "reviewed" but not neccesarily used against you. I just don't like the idea of a claims examiner looking at my life's history. I know there is a database that checks to see prior work comp claims after you file so once in the system, the records can be requested if it looks even remotely like injury.

As to normal treatment outside of Work Comp. I just don't feel comfortable givign that type of information considering the stigma it has and depending on the doc and how he records it in your file. And whether it's totally benign now doesn't mean in the future with all the obama care coming down the road that it can't be used to do whatever they want with the info. i'm telling you once it's electronic, it will be like letting a genie out a bottle. The data will be used at first as anonymous to determine studies etc, then some wisecracker will use it to empower some government or insurance agency.

Another factor is that if you live in a small town, I don't care about patient confidentiality, some clerk or whatever might be looking at your file and then have a gossip grapevine event that others find out and now you have a new way others look at you.

"Did you know that Dirk uses marijuana?"
"Wow. What a scumbag."
"Good thing your hubby is a cop, he can keep an eye out on him."

I know this is all worst case scenario but if anyone has worked in the medical, work comp industry, or small town, then my above scenarios are not that far fetched.