After reading a letter to the editor where a woman defends a psychiatrist for his practices, I had to write a letter myself.
First, I would like to point out that visiting a psychiatrist does not come with the stigma it once did. Most people have at one time or another sought help for mental issues.
I cannot imagine where it is common practice to visit with a patient for merely seven minutes and then bill for an hour.
If these patients had a co-pay, which I am sure many did, how unfair is it to pay for a specialist and then barely be given what I can only call shoddy medical treatment.
This doctor had seen way more than an average patient load for three doctors in a day.
His medication numbers are off the charts, as it is over 1,000 pills a day!
I will agree that when a patient leaves the office, the choices they make are their own; however, even if you are given — as you mentioned — a cocktail of medications for a high blood pressure, your visit would certainly last longer than seven minutes.
I do think that the truth lies only with him, and what the media derives from it is evidence of his practice.
If you needed a knee replacement surgery and you went to a doctor where many of his patients died, would you assume that those patients just simply had something wrong that caused them to die?
Or would you perhaps look for another surgeon? I would be willing to bet that even you would look around.
Dana Holmes
Danville
