"You'll be hearing from my lawyer."

[AngelfireRN]

I swear, I've heard this phrase more in the last 3 weeks than I have in my entire life.

Lawyers must be rolling in it if all theses folks have one on retainer and speed dial like they claim they do.

Do y'all get this where y'all work?

Cases in point...if we find that a patient is positive for an illicit substance, we dismiss them from our practice, per the terms of the contract they sign on admission to our clinic. No further controlled substances are provided, but we will supply a six-month prescription for maintenance meds.

All we have heard is "The law says you can't cut me off." or "The law says you have to give me 30 days' worth of my pain meds." Well, no, the law doesn't. We called the local DTF and confirmed it.

One lovely, who we were more lenient with than we should have been, threatened me with a suit. He had been caught (4 times) mixing two meds that could have a potentially lethal effect when combined. I counseled him about it, he snootily informed me that his specialist prescribed those and he'd take them if he wanted to. Doc counseled him next visit when he was still found to be positive for these meds. By the 4th time, Doc said that we would test him, he would be given half his script, and if his test was clean, the rest at that time. It wasn't, and he was gone. He not only demanded to have his script, but his payment for his last office visit refunded. Refused on both counts. He said he'd have his 'representative' deal with me.

And just this week, another lovely, who isn't even our patient, came in with papers from court, saying he needed a letter that said he could not work. Um, no. He was not even put on our waiting list because he said that was why he needed a doc when he came in, and Doc refused to even consider it. So, he's told that we can't give him any letter. He then asks for a letter stating that he's on our list. This man did not even want to make the effort to attempt to get into another practice. We refused this as well, and he flipped the "You'll be hearing from my lawyer" line. When we told him to leave at that point, he tried to poll our waiting patients in the lobby, for names and phone numbers, as witnesses to 'how he was treated".

I have to wonder, do they really think it scares anyone? Or, when they're saying "The law says...", do they really think we're that dumb?

Anyone experience this at your work?

[shoegalRN, RN]

I had one last week threatened me with calling his lawyer because I wouldnt pay for his cab ride home.

I told him, with all due respect, you can afford an attorney but not a cab ride home?

When he saw he wasnt intimidating me, he asked to speak with my supervisor because I was "rude" to him.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I had one last week threatened me with calling his lawyer because I wouldnt pay for his cab ride home.

I told him, with all due respect, you can afford an attorney but not a cab ride home?

When he saw he wasnt intimidating me, he asked to speak with my supervisor because I was "rude" to him.

That's awesome. I would have suggested that he have his lawyer come pick him up

[j621d]

Usually the people who threaten me with an attorney can't remember what an attorney is.

How about asking the patient, "What is your lawyers name; I don't want to miss his call."

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

FWIW, my husbands firm has FT legal secretaries and paralegals who do nothing for 40+ hours a week but screen yahoos like this, hundreds of them. About 1-2 a month actually amount to something worth pursuing. So yeah, the idiots do try to retain counsel, lol. They waste a lot of people's time. He had a person recently trying to sue their physician because their MS was getting worse. Well duh, even Dr. Google could tell you that's what MS does.

[klbinaug]

I'm a legal assistant and you wouldn't believe how many of these people I talk to every week. People will try to retain a lawyer over anything these days.

[onthejourney]

When I worked in a pizza place one man said he was going to sue me if ham was on his pizza

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

Yes sometimes.

It's different in Oz; we can call the police anytime we feel threatened (though we call the in house security guards first if there are any @ the facilty), and the police back us up 100%.

Does ur clinic try to wean people off addictive substance? Drug seekers will say & do anything to people when they get angry.

You know what I've done when people say this? I've actually given them the name & number of the closest lawyer so they can call them. The patients always look shocked & don't know what to say!

I wouldn't argue with any psych or drug addicted patients though, I would just say something like: that is your perogative sir/madam, see you!

The teaching hospital I used to work at used to have in house lawyers, and they got threatened with something like 100 law suits every week, so it's not unusual at all. I just wonder how many of them were successful.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

When I worked in a pizza place one man said he was going to sue me if ham was on his pizza

Hee hee! Was he a muslim?

[onthejourney]

he said he was allergic to it

[Guest717236]

he said he was allergic to it

They make the rounds..........

We had him in a slip and fall case..

(Of course, he carries his own banana peels)

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Over ten years ago, I worked for a physician group that would dismiss patients on the spot for threat of litigation. I don't know that it was the most service-minded thing to do or if it was even legal, but we sure didn't have ongoing problems with manipulative people.

[AngelfireRN, MSN, RN, APRN]

They make the rounds..........

We had him in a slip and fall case..

(Of course, he carries his own banana peels)

Once upon a time, when I worked psych, we had to confiscate a patient's prosthetic leg and keep him in the 'quiet room' because every time he would put the leg on and walk, he'd be caught smearing mashed potatoes, pudding, whatever he could find on the bottoms of his shoes so he could claim he fell.