Am I Being Paranoid Or Does Blacklisting Really Happen?

[Kb3]

I was injured during the course of a surgical procedure in the UK. I was not told about my injury but experienced pain and limited range of movement in the joint affected for several years after the surgery.

When I had had it x rayed in the UK on the NHS the radiologist's report (I was not allowed to see the xray) said that there was no damage.

Yet when I had it x rayed in my country of origin, I was able to look at the films and could see very clearly that there was significant skeletal damage to the joint.

My question goes out to anyone who has experience in or with the medical community either in the UK or elsewhere. Is there really blacklisting in the NHS and other medical systems? If so, is the patient who has been blacklisted affected globally (meaning with regards to all medical advice sought) or is limited specifically to the medically inflicted injury?

Until this happened to me I would have called any reference to blacklisting complete paranoid conspiracy stuff, but given my experience I have had to reexamine every single idea that I have ever held about the medical profession. Any advice on this issue would be most gratefully received.

 

[Srain]

Yes. It has been happening for years.

I have worked all sides of the medical/insurance communities so I wouldn't suggest it has anything to do with PTSD specifically, though that's a huge money maker or loser, depending on how you look at it, due to the it's longevity in , general. The truth of the matter is there has always been a big tug of war between insurance companies, attorneys, and drs.; who is going to pay what, when, and how. If your xray had to do with an accident then all the more reason to "find nothing" in one country only miraculously find it in another so that they would have the burden of medical responsibility.

If you have ever paid a medical bill on time only to find out that it came back "unpaid" for unspecified reasons, that would be because the procedure code had once again been changed for the millionth time that year! Yet somehow your credit is affected :mad: It's a common practice of insurance companies to build up interest.

I always request my medical records, keep up with my insurance company on what they doing with each of my medical claims (even if I have to request the same ones over and over because I can't keep track of them) and ask what my drs billing offices are doing with my bills. I'm not afraid to get on a 3-way call to get things straightened out. It can be a strain but ultimately everyone is willing to pass the burden onto the patient so I try to stay aware of this and push right back.

I hope this helps.

Rain

 

[Kb3]

It's very interesting to hear your take on this Rain and thank you. I particularly like your advice about staying on top of insurance issues and keeping copies of my medical records.

I have accepted that I will be unable to access any kind of orthopedic assistance in this country again and have built the estimated costs of any repairs that I will need to have either at home or in another country into our budget. I feel that the best thing to do is to just cut my losses with that issue, because even if my injury was acknowledged and assistance was offered, I don't think that I would be able to trust anyone in this country and particularly in that speciality to do a proper job. I also would worry massively about the professionalism of the anesthetist. It's just not worth it to me to take a chance on them again.

What I still wonder about though, is if I am now blacklisted for any other medical need that I may have. For instance, I had some blood work done over a week ago and the results have been delayed. I would have normally never given it a second thought in the past and chalked it up to the inefficiency of the NHS, but given what's happened to me, I wouldn't be surprised if my results somehow get "lost" in transit. I was told that the results are now due back next week so will have to wait and see.

I always have the option of going privately I suppose, but that's expensive and I have no guarantee that the same thing won't happen. It's hard to feel safe when I worry that my health can be jeopardized by a system that can punish patients by stealthily denying them healthcare.

I don't want to become excessively paranoid about it, but I would like to feel safe again and I suppose that's why I'm putting it out there and asking anyone for their take and advice on it.