This morning I had to go for some tests, and the paper they gave me to fill out had this:
_____Male _____Female _____Transgender
Testes at birth__Y__N
I really do think I've lived too long. :-[
Were you given an option? Did you have to fill this out?
Can you state DECLINE TO STATE or NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.
Perhaps they should have another intrusive question: What drugs or medications or herbs or supplements are you taking? After all, if a person is a transgender on hormone therapy that could skew the test results. Other drugs and medications can also skew test results.
Do you realize that it takes about 15 to 30 minutes to fill out very intrusive questionnaires every time you visit a new doctor or when you see your doctor for an annual visit? They want you to list all the terminal illnesses of all your close relatives, all the drugs and surgeries you have ever had, and all the symptoms you have ever had., etc.
And the time taken to fill out those questionnaires takes longer than the 10 to 15 minutes that are allowed for the examination. And the extra time the doctor takes to read such questionnaires is billable. What a charade! The last time I visited the doctor,
(1) he did not ask to see my tongue and fingernails;
(2) he did not look at my eyes, ears, mouth, throat, or nostrils;
(3) he did not check my heart or chest with the stethoscope nor did he check my nerve impulses;
(4) he did not ask me to disrobe and put on an open-back hospital gown.
All he asked me to do was to sit down, have my blood pressure taken, and then he asked me if I had any medical complaints or symptoms, my level of pain, and that was it. Oh, and he wanted to know what prescriptions I am taking, what supplements I am taking, and if I am up to date with those mandated vaccinations, specifically, the annual flu shot, the pneumonia vaccine, and tetanus shot, and the shingles vaccine.
And I get a bill for $180.00 for that ? And the bill takes two months to receive. No upfront costs before the exam.