You love your doctor.
He's been your doctor for years.
You've been going to him for as long as you remember.
You've had a great relationship with him.
He's always treated you right.
He's always done right by you.
You've even referred family members to him.
Not long ago he recommended certain treatment for your medical problem.
You were hesitant.
You didn't know much about the treatment.
Your doctor reassured you.
He said there were few risks.
He told you it would help you.
He said this treatment would get you better.
But it didn't.
It made you worse.
Much worse.
In fact, it created complications.
Complications that needed corrective medical treatment.
And medications.
And follow up visits to three new doctors.
You can't return to work yet.
You're frustrated sitting at home.
You're watching daytime TV.
You're going out of your mind.
When you see your doctor for follow up, he brushes off your concerns.
He tells you that you'll get better.
It might take a year, but "Don't worry, you'll be fine" he says with authority.
You can't drive.
You can't go anywhere.
You need a nurse to help you each day.
All because of what your doctor did.
You get the sense that he was careless.
You begin to feel as if your doctor is hiding something.
It seems like he's covering up what he did.
He doesn't want to take responsibility for his actions.
This festering continues for weeks.
Weeks turn into months.
Months being disabled.
Months not being able to do those activities you used to do.
You have now concluded that your doctor was careless.
You believe his carelessness was a cause of your injury.
You believe that your injuries are permanent.
Your treating doctors confirm that your injuries are significant and permanent.
A lawsuit isn't even on your radar.
You'd never consider suing your doctor.
You loved your doctor.
You put your life in his hands.
You trusted him.
You still do...at least you think you do.
You decide you're going to express your feelings to your doctor.
Not in person.
Not in his office.
You decide to write your doctor a letter.
A letter expressing your frustration.
A letter detailing the events that transpired.
A letter explaining your conversations with your doctor.
A letter showing your doctor how his treatment has affected you on a daily basis.
Since you have all this free time, you get on your computer and start typing.
You're typing for what seems like hours.
It seems like days.
When you finally finish, you look at your masterpiece.
It's nine pages long.
Typed.
You've organized it beautifully.
You've thoroughly analyzed what happened.
You've expressed yourself with precision.
You've made yourself explicitly clear.
You put your letter away and decide to re-read it tomorrow.
The next day you begin to read your letter.
To proofread it.
To check for spelling and grammatical errors.
As you're reading it again, you realize you're screaming.
You realize you're yelling in the letter.
You're pointing fingers.
You're accusing.
You're demanding.
You're obnoxious.
By the end of your screed, your tone is more conciliatory.
Then, in an abrupt twist, you start demanding.
You demand an apology.
You demand he reply to your letter.
You demand he respond.
You threaten that if he doesn't respond you're going to leave horrible reviews on Google and Yelp and anywhere else you can think of.
You feel good about your letter.
You feel good to get this off your chest.
You feel good to have expressed your anger and frustration.
You didn't threaten to sue him but your actions appear clear.
You print out your nine page letter to your doctor.
You sign it.
You carefully fold it and put it in an envelope.
You hand write the address and your return address.
You want to make sure he knows who it's coming from.
You then go the post office and get postage.
Then you drop it in the mail.
You go home confident you'll get a reply in the mail.
You return home fully expecting your doctor to either call you to explain or write a response.
Days go by with no reply.
Weeks go by with no response.
That only makes you angrier.
You're getting more and more frustrated.
Every day that goes by without a response makes you dream about confronting your doctor in his office.
You want to march right in and tell him what he did to you.
You know that's not the right thing, but it keeps cycling in your mind.
You want to know why your doctor hasn't responded.
Let me give you a dose of reality.
Your doctor WILL NOT REPLY TO YOUR LETTER.
He's never going to write a response to your letter.
Certainly not a letter like you've written.
Want to know why not?
It's because anything he says can and will be used against him if and when you bring a lawsuit against him for medical malpractice.
That's the bottom line.
That's a fact.
Your doctor has likely been advised by his insurance carrier not to respond to a hostile letter like yours.
He's likely been advised not to get on the phone with you.
He has likely been told that anything he says will come back to haunt him at trial years later.
Therefore, the better practice, he's told, is simply not to reply.
"Doesn't he know that will generate ill-will and likely force me to start a lawsuit against him?"
He probably hasn't thought that deeply about your actions and what it will mean to YOU if he doesn't respond to YOUR letter.
He's focusing on himself.
He's focusing on the terrible letter you've just sent him.
You've likely hurt his feelings.
He'll likely read your letter.
He'll likely put it in your file.
If he hasn't already, he'll likely send you a letter discharging you as his patient.
He can no longer continue to treat you.
Your doctor-patient relationship is over.
Finished.
Done.
Time for you to get another doctor.
Time for you to consider your options.
Do you sue him?
Do you have a valid case?
Do you have the heart to sue him for his carelessness?
Will a medical expert confirm your doctor violated the basic standards of medical care?
Will he confirm that your doctor's wrongdoing was a cause of your injuries?
