civilian doctor or military doctor?

Question

So i have an issue with a back/neck injury. 2 civilians that i seen first xrayed my back and found issues wrong.. then a military doctor took a xray and said theres nothing wrong and accused me of malingering right on the spot . whos write?

right. um ya the military doctor gave me vitamin m lol. but hes the one saying im malingering. so now im stuck with a jacked up back and neck area, and no way to get help. he says if i go to the civilian docs again he will push for ucmj. bah

yes i went through the whole spill for 4 months on a pretty extensive profile. At my last unit i had a antenna fall on my back and got xrayed here and it showed issues with my neck but they didnt xray my back.. here they did 1 xray showed a crack in one of the vertabra and the other filing down of the bones surrounding that vertabre. the civillian doctors are imployed by the same medical clinic. when i went for a follow up with the civillian doctor she was out of her office. thats when i seen the military doctor that says "hes been in for 30 years and can smell a malingerer". should i seek IG help or maybe a lawyer. not only that but this mourning at pt it was my first day back and i sustained a reinjury of my neck and now im really jacked up. but if i see the civillian doctors again im going to be charged with malingering according to my unit and that military doctor.

Answer 1

Well there is no way for us to know, but if you feel there is something wrong continue to see a military doctor until the issue is resolved.

My friend had a similar problem in the Army. She had a fractured hip for more than a month before the military finally gave her an x-ray. Before that they kept putting her on profiles and giving her painkillers.

Military doctors and human they will make mistakes like anyone else.

Answer 2

You have the right to ask for a second opinion from an other doctor and it can be a civilian doctor or military. If the Mil doctor is not you PCM ask to see that doctor. Every military hospital has a patient advocate office you can go there and let them know what has transpired. If you are truly hurt do not let the doctor intimidate you. By the way An Xray only shows if there is any bone abnormality's not ligament or disk issues that are not obvious. you need an MRI to get a better assessment. Ask to see a neuro surgeon or a doctor of orthopedics (DO) I went to see a doctor in 2002 and it wound up being a PA and he gave me ranger candy (ibuprofen) and said I pulled a muscle. I had to ask for my PCM to get a MRI and found out I had a herniated disk and because it took six months for me to quit F'ing with the PA i also developed Degenerative disk and joint disease. I had back surgery in 2006 to alleviate some of the nerve pressure and I do a little better but I will have to have surgery again. I chose the less invasive surgery to start with to help me deploy but I know and knew it would get worse again because the DOC told me so. She was an Awesome doc and a major (Neuro-surgeon)
and don't let them use steroids it just makes it worse in the long run and you gain weight from them.

Answer 3

Military doctors are full of sh**. They're more concerned with pleasing other officers in other units than correctly diagnosing and treating a problem; the old adage that folks who become doctors in the military do so because there's no way they could get a license out in the real world is still true--although I've known a few decent military doctors, to be fair. If this joker is telling you you're malingering--despite the evidence from the other two LEGITIMATE doctors--you might just have a case on your hands. The military has a nasty habit of ignoring serious medical or mental issues soldiers have--or develop as a direct result of being in the military--and quite often end up causing far more problems as a result of that negligence. They will almost always opt for whatever they think will serve themselves best, not you.

If you have a back/neck injury, it needs to be taken seriously. I've known quite a few fellow soldiers who developed serious back and neck problems while in the military because of the military and who have had to fight the military tooth-and-nail right up until they time they ETS, disgusted. I'd recommend seeing as many military doctors as necessary, and keep all that paperwork from the legitimate civilian doctors until you find a military one with enough sense to diagnose it correctly and give you an appropriate profile. Once you get that profile--do NOT let some assbag officer or NCO try to tell you that "a profile is just a suggestion", one they don't have to abide by. The profile is there both to protect you AND protect them from any further liability in worsening the condition; yet many of these idiots inexplicably don't seem to care, and seem more concerned with flaunting their own "authority" instead of just leaving the injured guy the hell alone. Stick to your guns, and do NOT let them mess with your profile or try to forcefeed you some line about you still needing to lift furniture or change a truck tire or go run for 8 miles with a bad back, regardless of the profile.

Yes, this is still a sore spot with me, and not because it only happened to me, but to so many friends of mine.

EDIT: Go see the IG. If this ******** can so easily ding you for "malingering", you ought to be able to return the favor by pointing out "malpractice". Especially if he's willing to ignore the medical evidence staring him in the face.

Answer 4

You have a chain of command. Use it. And go as high as you have to in order to get this taken care of.

As for the clinic. When you go there, it is assumed you have a minor injury. So, request to go to the post/base hospital and be seen there. Not all military doctors are idiots.

Speaking of the doctor, his threat is pretty empty. He can recommend action under the UCMJ, but he CANNOT initiate that action. If, for whatever reason, you are taken to courts-martial for this, he will be called upon to present evidence (x-rays, etc.). His opinion is just that, without proof, it's worth the paper it's written on. If you ever see him again, request to see a different doctor. If necessary, say you want a second opinion. You have rights as both a patient and a soldier. Don't let anybody intimidate you out of them. The military needs you healthy.

Edit: I like the idea of you going to see the IG. Especially if you have a prior diagnosis that contradicts the military doctor. >:-)) Would serve him right.

Answer 5

As a dependant, I'm a little luckier in that regard, I suppose. I refused to have my children at a military hospital after a bad incident at a military emergency room.

I went in with severe lower right abdominal pain and pain in my right side. I was concerned it was an ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy that plants in a fallopian tube and can kill you). The nurse gave me a pregnancy test and told me it was positive. The doctor came in and was bragging about how people told him he looked like George Clooney. I didn't care. I was in serious pain. He prescribed a shot in my butt and gave me a prescription for Vicodin. I asked him if it would be unwise to take Vicodin considering I just had a pregnancy test come back POSITIVE. He told me his chart said my pregnancy test came back negative and he said, "Don't worry, even if you are - you won't have any FLK's or anything" and starts acting like he's retarded. I asked him what the hell "FLK" means and he tells me "funny looking kids". If I was easily offended, I could have made a huge fuss over that - my sister has Cerebal Palsy. Luckily for him, I'm not that easily offended.

The nurse came back in, gave me a shot in the butt, and informed me she had told my husband I was pregnant. Thanks - so much for breaking the news to him myself! Nice confidentiality there. I ask her, "Am I pregnant or NOT? The doctor says I'm not..." and she says, "Well your test said positive...but those things are only 33% correct..." That was B.S...they are 99% accurate when used correctly.

So I left there after 8 hours (I am not exaggerating in the least) of waiting with a shot of God knows what in my butt, a Vicodin prescription, still not knowing whether or not I was pregnant and the hospital form they gave me said I was having upper chest pain(?!). My husband drove me straight to a civilian hospital for a 2nd opinion.

I WAS pregnant and I had pretty severe kidney stones - a factor in my past medical history they would have learned had they paid attention. I've had to have surgery for kidney stones before. This time, there was nothing they could do about the stones but wait, since I was pregnant. I was lucky and passed them....but I am still furious with the care I received.

The point of all that was that I don't trust military health care. I really would love to...but until they work on this system, I think it's a load of crap. They should be up to the par of civilian hospitals. You deserve more than that and so do military families. I would bet money the civilian doctors are right.

Answer 6

What was wrong with your back? Was it a muscle strain? Did the civilian doctor say you have a fracture? Most importantly, where you injured in some way and did you give the military doctor a complete history of how you were injured? Did you get the radiologist's report on those civilian x-rays and give it to the military doctor so he could compare it with the one on the x-ray he ordered?
I spent thirteen years as a Navy Corpsman and saw my share of injured shipmates and Marines. I also had a lot of equipment and supplies at my disposal. One thing I never had was a crystal ball or a set of tarot cards to use as diagnostic tools.

Answer 7

Well I had a civilian doctor x ray my back and said I had a curvature of the spine. Turns out most of us do. What was the treatment the civilian doctor wanted to do? Let me guess....30 treatments and see how that works? If you feel there is a problem, get the x-rays that the civilian doctor took (you paid for them, they are yours) and compare them to the xrays the military doctor took and have the doctor tell you why he feels there is or isn't a problem. very simple. If the civilian wants to perform surgery, run like hell.

Answer 8

As far as the military is concerned, the military doctor. If you're on active duty, I'd be concerned about that...especially since malingering is a UCMJ violation.

Answer 9

Civilian doctor is probably right (not write). Military doctors are pressured to let minor injuries slide and get the person back to work (in the Seabees at least). Did they try to give you "vitamin M" (motrin)?

Answer 10

my military Dr was great, had a foot severed, they reattached it and it's back to 96% plus.
Of course it hurts like crazy. Hell, they could of wrote it off.
They lied though. They said I would be up and dancing in no time. I still cant dance.