Yes, I agree with you, Amy. I think it was unfair of this islamic woman to sue due to that reason.
And in supposedly multicultural malaysia, they have this suffocatingly halal only public hospital and so far no one sue those racist extremist halal only public hospital for violating nonbelievers right and discriminating nonbelievers.

What are the odds that Attorney General Eric Holder and his "color blind" Department of Justice will get involved and support this woman's suit? Pretty good I think.

Come on, that's not enough information. Maybe letting patients wait for five hours is standard procedure. Sure seems like I've waited for hours in the er, and I don't even have any cultural taboos.

In any case, I wouldn't move to a foreign country without being prepared to play by their rules. This is what makes me laugh when people say we're an intolerant bunch. If we weren't so damned accommodating, maybe people wouldn't keep trying so hard to come here, and then suing us for bullshit reasons later.

And another thing--maybe women like this one need a lesson in how many women died here in the early days when women were so modest they would indicate on a mannequin where the problem was, and some of them were too embarrassed to even point to the right place!

She may as well stay here and not be treated, since going to some of the Muslim countries means no female doctors anyhow.

Ironic that they expect to benefit from a Western culture that allows women to be educated and to work in traditionally male dominated fields, but they won't participate in that Western culture themselves. Ironic, or pathetic...not sure which.

My guess is this was badly reported.

I've been in ER waiting rooms for hours chilling out too, and not just because I've demanded only hot nurses treat me and I mean treat me.

My experience (sigh) is that EKG's are all too easy to give and I find it difficult to believe they had no female nurses on duty that could give her an EKG.

My guess is something else was going on.

The only reason I doubt my own suspicion is that only one of the three (?) docs at the overlawyered link is calling bullshit.

I do appreciate her getting her treatment finally, at Mount Sinai.

Several months ago I went with my boyfriend to the ER for chest pains he was having (it ended up not being a heart attack), and we were there for four hours. He did get his EKG before he left, but no one to interpret it. He sat in a hall, in a chair, waiting to be seen. They didn't even send him out to sit with me so I would know what was going on. He said they were jam packed, and anyone not bleeding was sitting in the hall.

They called a few hours later and told him he should come back, but they wouldn't tell him the results over the phone. They really just wanted him back because they hadn't taken his medical insurance information yet. His regular physician called the next day and got the results.

I can't even imagine what they would have said if he had requested some sort of special staff to see him. ER's are NOT the place to get picky!

Peggy C: Ironic that they expect to benefit from a Western culture that allows women to be educated and to work in traditionally male dominated fields, but they won't participate in that Western culture themselves.

Ironic also that they, by their silence and cooperation with Muslim totalitarianism, aid and abet the violent destruction of the same Western culture. When Western culture is gone, who exactly is going to treat them? Or do they even care?

A Catholic soldier in the military was confined to closed quarters with a woman. He requested a new roommate, citing his marriage as a reason he did not want to share closed quarters with a woman. He was severely reprimanded and his record tarnished. Personally, I think such a request on his part was not unreasonable.

Now this woman will probably win this lawsuit. I can't imagine a man winning a lawsuit because the only emergency room staff available was female, but in this case she'll probably get the full backing of the ACLU.

It would seem a priori that she is being discriminatory by not allowing a male to treat her.

Yes that's right... She indeed was being discriminatory.

Maybe the hospital should have gone further in honoring her Muslim beliefs. Don't men get preferential treatment in that society? Maybe the hospital should have said, "Sure... we'll get to you... but only after we treat all of the men that need medical attention.

I'm being sarcastic of course. I'm not a muslim and I have no respect whatsoever for the stupid rules in any religion and I think she should have been treated like any other patient. Religion shouldn't be a factor in how the hospital treats any patient. The hospital and their staff should see everybody there as a human being and a patient.

Only this woman is bringing her religious issues into play here and that is her problem. She cannot demand that the hospital staff accommodate her religion. If there are only male staff available can I, as a male christian demand only female nurses and doctors? Probably not, and certainly not if I want prompt care! No... Then why should she.

It wouldn't surprise me though if this woman gets results because our society is losing it's collective mind and would rather capitulate to the and maintain their PC creds.

The US used to be a melting pot, but now we have people that come into this country and refuse to melt. This is a problem.

i agree with all of you, especially pricklypear. i have a female muslim dr. & my only qualm is, ...It's hard enough to understand any Dr., now I have one who cant pronounce my medicines correctly.

A Catholic soldier in the military was confined to closed quarters with a woman. He requested a new roommate, citing his marriage as a reason he did not want to share closed quarters with a woman. He was severely reprimanded and his record tarnished. Personally, I think such a request on his part was not unreasonable.

So it is OK for a man to be granted special treatment based upon his Catholic beliefs – those of a religion that treats women as second class citizens, whose official stance is that ordaining women is just as bad as priests molesting boys and whose leadership actively hid evidence of rampant abuse of young boys by its priests – but it is not OK for a woman to be granted special treatment based upon her Muslim beliefs - those of a religion that also treats women as second class citizens and whose prophet is recorded as having sex with a child?

Personally, I think neither of them deserved special treatment. One's personal beliefs cannot always be honored in practical situations.

I'm a Muslim woman, and I think this patient is really out of line to be suing.

My understanding of Islamic law is that it puts life and death issues above issues of modesty. If the patient was really concerned about her life, she shouldn't have been making a fuss over male technicians seeing her. I vehemently agree that if she's taking it this far, she really shouldn't be living in the West to begin with.

Wondering what the response would be if she had requested it not be a black,or a white or any other race. What would the lawsuit be then.

This is so ridiculous. Could a person whose religion frowns on gay people demand to be treated only by hetrosexual physicians?! And sue if they weren't? Please. Agree with the very well made orginal point....if this woman can't be served the way she needs to be served here, she needs to go somewhere else.

I had to laugh reading this- I had a somewhat similar situation this week in clinicals. One of my patients had indicated that she wasn't comfortable with a male nurse, which absolutely is her privilege. I do have one male classmate; I had to ask, who would she rather have put in her IV: me as a novice, or him as a fifteen year veteran paramedic who could put in an IV in the back of a rig going 45 mph down a road full of potholes?

Hee hee hee....

By Trust: "A Catholic soldier in the military was confined to closed quarters with a woman. He requested a new roommate, citing his marriage as a reason he did not want to share closed quarters with a woman. He was severely reprimanded and his record tarnished."

I call bullshit on this. Cite/link to proof. This sounds like one of those stories that get circulated in those damn e-mails that run all over the internet running the subject gamut and never containing complete information. Being one of those soldiers and having deployed more than once I know how the military deals with housing in both garrison and in a deployed environment. The above? Complete bullshit. There is more implication than information, a sure sign that the whole story is very much different from what is presented. So show me proof.

Juliana, the best, absolutely bar none, nurse I've ever had was a man. He is the standard to which I hold all others now.

And when my 2 week old had to be hospitalized for fever, an older man with fingers like very hairy sausages was the nurse who was FINALLY able to get his IV in. He did it in one try.

I sort of understand the gender thing though-if I have time to make a choice, I'll see a female (very well qualified female, I should add) over a male gyno-not for any reason than men feel more comfortable in lockers rooms with other dudes, and women feel more comfortable with women. But if it's an emergency, who cares?

@Gareth: "I call bullshit on this. Cite/link to proof. This sounds like one of those stories that get circulated in those damn e-mails that run all over the internet running the subject gamut and never containing complete information. Being one of those soldiers and having deployed more than once I know how the military deals with housing in both garrison and in a deployed environment. The above? Complete bullshit. There is more implication than information, a sure sign that the whole story is very much different from what is presented. So show me proof."
________

You know, you can ask for a source without calling Bullshit smart ass.

In any case, it was discussed by Dr. Laura in one of her audio books, and she called the soldier by name. I didn't want to cite her as the source as the mere mention of her name tends to derail a threat into off topic rants.

Being modest is one thing but using a socalled religion to demand certain privilege that is not available is not right. That is the problem with islamic people, they expect special rights when they live in foreign countries but those racist islamic people never give special rights to foreign nonbelievers who lived in their predominantly islamic countries.

The problem with islamic people is that they expect foreign nonbelievers to respect all their backward, draconian, antiquated and extremely intolerant islamic culture, but they never respect decent western culture in public places.

Trust: "You know, you can ask for a source without calling Bullshit smart ass"

Actually I am pretty sure that I cannot. Part of being a smart ass - a title that I readily admit to. And much as I would love to deride your source I cannot, not having heard the original myself. All I can say is that what your original post implied does not make sense with the way I know the system is supposed to work and the way I have experienced these systems. Deployments, etc. That is not what the military typically does. Not saying it does not happen because the military is made up of humans, but if people are following the rules then that sort of shit does not normally occur. It is very very rare. Which is why I call bullshit.

All that said - the story imparted is not enough to judge what actually occurred. Some catholic dude was pissed because he had to room with a female? Does not make sense. That does not typically happen. Really. It takes very odd circumstances for a male to be roomed with a female. I know that I would not have allowed that when I was in command. Too much opportunity for bad shit to happen. Or be said to happen. And I am not odd in that regard, most military commanders know that you just do not do shit like that. And they do not allow it to happen.

Just my experience though. Having been there and all...

@Gareth at July 18, 2010 8:24 PM
_________

I'll concede that it could have been someone giving their pissed off version of the story. Dr. L. is usually pretty good about checking her sources, but I'll admit that I did not see the news myself.

I'm pretty sure the book was Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands... I'd bet my wife on it, but not the playstation. (j/k)

The Islamic culture would have taken care of this problem by not inventing the EKG in the first place... you have a heart attack, you die! Problem solved.

The rights listed in state statutes say patients can expect treatment without discrimination, and respectful care consistent with sound medical practices.

Hmm. Treatment was offered, was it not? Treatment and care consistent with sound medical practices?

If the patient refuses care, they cannot force them to accept it.

(And as Shema said, I believe all the Abrahamic religions' traditional laws have a necessity exception - especially for things that are not the equivalent of Catholic "deadly sins".

The Mullahs, just like the Rabbis, think that God would rather have you alive than dead, if the choice is between alive and unclean because the only food you had was pork, and dead from starvation.

I'm sure some sects of the Wahhabi variety or their like would say that God would rather have you dead, but they're very much a minority, is my understanding of the theological issues.)

I've had my blood drawn many times -- I have only had one nurse miss the first hit. (Veins fairly obvious.)

If you don't hit on the second time that's it -- you get someone else to do the third time.

My lady was on blood thinners in her last few years. One day she was in the hospital clinic for blood tests. They brought an intern in to get the clinical/practical check boxes. She missed twice, before I stepped in. The nurse would have let her keep trying if I hadn't said something.

I don't give a rat's what sex, orientation, color, height, or any other attribute as long as you are competent

I had to ask,
Posted by: Juliana

I'd have asked only after poking her a few times

"The nurse would have let her keep trying if I hadn't said something."

FYI everyone- if this ever happens to you, scream bloody-freakin'-murder. Each nurse is allowed two tries ONLY. If they try to continue, feel free to provide a beat-down. They don't get to use you for their practice dummy. By the third try, you are entitled to either a head nurse, their IV specialist, or best of all, a flight nurse (the demigods of IV insertion- I grovel before their mad skillz).

This is my public service announcement, based on current clinical teachings. (bows)