BPDFamily.com

Hello everybody.  I really need some advice on this. I'm livid.

My BPD d called me extremely distraught from her friends house. The friend also 15 told my d that her pediatrician was telling other parents about my d's illness and details about my d's suicide attempt. My d has been going to this pediatrician since she was born! I'm so hurt that she would do this. I always thought of her more than a dr but as a friend.

To make sure, I asked the friends parents and they confirmed that this dr had told them this warning them that my d had serious problems.  The Dr even told the parent that as soon as my d is 18, she will leave and never speak to us again.

She is a pediatrician with no mental illness training, so I only took my d there for medical issues. She has her whole team of Drs for her BPD and eating disorder.

As soon as my d told me, I went to her office to talk to her but her office was closed for the week. She will be there monday, but I need advice how to address this.

I am shocked!    This is a very serious breach of confidentiality.  Is this Dr. in private practice or do they work for a clinic?  I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you what I would do.  If they work for a clinic, I would report my concerns to the manager of the clinic, or to the clinical supervisor of the hospital associated with the clinic.  Either way, I would immediately transfer my daughter's care somewhere else.  AND I would report this to the state licensing board.  It doesn't matter how much of a history you have with this Dr. or how much of a friend she seemed to be, your daughter comes first and what this Dr. did is taken very, very seriously by the medical community.  There are consequences for this behavior.

No, this is her private practice. I am definitely not bringing my d or my other two ds to her again. I'm going to see her first thing Monday morning. I'm so afraid that I'm going to lose it with this dr. I need some guidance on how far I should take this. Dr had said things to me about another one of her patients because dr was worried that two girls were feeding off each other. At that time, some things she said to me about this other child I felt were stepping of the lines. I should have known that if she was doing this with another patient, she could be doing it with my d. She just came accross as so concerned for the girls in her practice who all go to the same school.

I feel that I should report her to the medical board. My daughter was so upset that I had to take her to an emergency therapist appointment to process it all. Any advice on how to keep my cool Monday and what to say/ not to say?

I would say what you describe is a breach of HIPAA.

HIPAA is the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The primary goal of the law is to make it easier for people to keep health insurance, protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information and help the healthcare industry control administrative costs.

www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/administrative/privacyrule/index.html

I would absolutely file a complaint, what that doctor did is not only inappropriate, I would say illegal.

www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/coding-billing-insurance/hipaahealth-insurance-portability-accountability-act/hipaa-violations-enforcement.page?

I am so sorry this has happened to you and your daughter Amal... .

How is your daughter coping now?

This is only my personal opinion, but if this happened to me, I would not even deal with the Dr. in person (like you said, you are very upset, and I would be too). I would get some professional advice and take the legal route, as what she did was clearly inappropriate, definitely unethical and quite possibly illegal... .

Thank you all for your advice. My d is doing well after the therapist visit. I told her that we will never be going back to this dr , and the authorities will be notified so that she cannot do this to another child. As for dealing with the social consequences, I don't know. You know how kids talk at school, but the therapist said that this is an opportunity for the two of them to work through some things. My d is in a much better place than she was 6 months ago. That she took it as well as she did actually means she is progressing. I am very proud of here but here is the only place where I can express it and brag a little on her. She is the kind that hears praise on how well she is doing and then will breakdown because she is scared about getting better, that her treatment team and we will abandon her. It is so difficult but better.

Thank you for sharing your pride in your daughter with us  :)  Hopefully someday soon you can share it with her and she will be able to accept it, but until then we love hearing good news and all about those positive steps.