What is Medical Gaslighting and How Can You Deal With It?
Medical treatment is a team effort between doctor and patient. If one of these team members becomes ineffective, treatment suffers. In a worst-case scenario, the results can be catastrophic. Medical gaslighting occurs when a doctor dismisses the concerns of their patient, rendering patient input ineffective. If your doctor is gaslighting you, you need to take decisive action. Your life might depend on it.
What is medical gaslighting?
Medical gaslighting occurs when a doctor doesn’t take a patient seriously or downplays their symptoms. It disproportionately affects women, people of color, the elderly, and people with poorly understood conditions. Gaslighting differs from a medical misdiagnosis, which is when a doctor mistakenly believes a patient has a condition because of similar symptoms. Gaslighting in the medical community is unacceptable, and it can harm patients physically and psychologically.
Following are some common examples of medical gaslighting:
- Dismissing chronic pain by saying, “It’s probably just stress — you’re too young to be really sick.”
- Failure to refer you to a specialist or to order lab testing. This is a big red flag.
- Telling you that your complaints are all in your head without further investigation.
- Insinuating that you are a hypochondriac.
- Asserting that you are “dramatic” or “hysterical,” especially if you are female.
The foregoing is far from a complete list of possible signs of medical gaslighting. Nevertheless, none of these signs, taken alone, always indicate medical gaslighting. So much depends on the circumstances.
What to do if you suspect medical gaslighting
If you believe you’ve fallen victim to medical gaslighting, you should fight back and be your own advocate. Doctors are medical professionals, but no one knows your body better than you. If a doctor doesn’t take you seriously and minimizes your symptoms, you need a second opinion. Never forget that you’re not a hypochondriac simply because you suspect medical gaslighting. Trust your intuition and take the following actions as circumstances may demand.
Talk to your doctor
Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself. After all, it’s your body and your life. If your doctor is dismissing your concerns, advocate them more forcefully. Ask your doctor to conduct more testing, or ask for a referral to a specialist.
Seek a second opinion
If your concerns fall on deaf ears, seek a second opinion from a different healthcare system or a specialist. Find the right doctor for you. The goal isn’t to find someone you would hang out with, but you will want to find a doctor with whom you can have a good rapport. Someone who is professional, honest, and has a good bedside manner could ease your fears and listen to you when you explain your symptoms and concerns.
Document everything
Keep a journal filled with detailed notes on your symptoms, interactions with healthcare providers, and timelines. Keep all paperwork from third parties, whether offline or online. If your doctor has failed to diagnose your real condition, these notes can help your next doctor understand what to test for and identify your condition more quickly.
Bring a friend to appointments
You might want to bring along a close friend or family member when seeing a doctor. There’s safety in numbers, plus, the other person can be a strong support system and advocate for you as well.
Obtain copies of your medical records
You have a legal right to copies of your medical records. While you might have trouble understanding them, you may be able to spot obvious errors. Additionally, keeping a copy of your medical records handy might also save your next doctor some time. Time could be critical in the event of an emergency. Keep your medical records with your journal and compare your symptoms with your treatment.
When does gaslighting become medical malpractice?
Medical gaslighting becomes medical malpractice when your healthcare provider’s treatment of you crosses the line into medical negligence. To win a medical malpractice claim in court or at the settlement table, you need to prove the following:
- A doctor-patient relationship existed at the time of treatment. This is almost always the case.
- Your healthcare provider owed you a specific professional duty of care under the circumstances. They might have had an obligation to order a certain type of lab test, for example.
- Your healthcare provider failed to meet the demands of their duty of care — by failing to order a lab test, for example.
- The doctor’s failure to meet their duty of care caused you harm.
- The harm you suffered justifies financial compensation — lost earnings, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, medical bills, or something similar.
You are likely to need expert medical testimony to establish your claim–especially with respect to defining the duty of care.
Your legal options if you’ve experienced medical gaslighting
If you even suspect that the medical gaslighting you have suffered rises to the level of medical malpractice, your first course of action should be to schedule a free initial consultation with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. Your lawyer will investigate your claim using your medical records, patterns of negligence, and the opinion of a medical expert. Ohio requires a written expert medical opinion as a condition for filing a lawsuit, but Kentucky does not.
Beware the statute of limitations
The statute of limitations sets the deadline for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. If you miss it, your claim’s value will drop to zero. The general statute of limitations deadline in both Ohio and Kentucky is one year after you discover or should have discovered the malpractice. Certain exceptions exist (for minors, for example), so speak to an attorney right away.
How a medical malpractice lawyer can help
You absolutely do not have to put up with medical gaslighting or medical malpractice. The medical malpractice lawyers at Crandall & Pera Law, LLC can help you in the following ways, among others:
- Assess the viability of your claim
- Collect and analyze evidence
- Coordinate with medical experts to help you prove your claim
- Negotiate with hospitals, insurance companies, and opposing counsel
- File a medical malpractice lawsuit, if necessary
The steps are just the tip of the iceberg of the actions that a committed advocate can take on your behalf. The best part is that under the contingency fee system, you will owe precisely $0.00 in attorney’s fees unless you win your case. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.