Complaint Review: Dr. Claudia Katherine Vogel Of Endocrinology

I am writing this letter concerning the discriminating treatment I received from the Office of Dr. Claudia Katherine Vogel of Endocrinology located at 100 N. Green Valley Pkwy., Suite 340 Henderson, NV 89074.

On Friday March 23, 2007 I called Dr. Vogel's office to schedule an appointment to review my thyroid levels in order to get a renewal of prescription. All the endocrinologists that I have been to in the past require that I get my blood tested prior to the visit so that they can prescribe the correct dosage of medicine. Therefore, I wanted to speak with Dr. Vogel to discuss arranging this prior to my visit.

However, the treatment I received on the call was shocking to say the least. I spoke with the receptionist named Shawne who was very impolite and was not willing to schedule an earlier appointment in order to get my prescription. My thyroid pills were about to run out and I cannot miss one day of my medicine so this was a pretty urgent request.

Since she would not consider my position and I was at her mercy, I was willing to go without the medication and take an appointment that would have caused me to become irregular in my medication. The appointment would have been in late May, Two months from the initial call.

However, I did request that the doctor send me the TSH Rx for my blood work so that I could at least have the lab work taken care of ahead of time before my visit. She told me that the doctor was not in the office in which I said 'please take the message for her and have her call me' in order for me to ask the doctor to send me the blood work Rx, but she decided to transfer me to a nurse named Hilary, explaining what I needed and that I would like to speak with the Doctor.

Hilary was adamant about how she will not give the doctor any message and that I NEED to come in to see the doctor in order to get the paperwork, and when I asked to speak to the office manager she told me that they do not have one. At this point I could not get a word in with her.

The tone of the conversation became even more disturbing. I explained to Hilary that my employer would not allow me to miss so many days of work and that the Dr. usually makes arrangements to allow me to get my blood work before my visit, but she still refused to take a message. I also explained that my Thyroid condition required that the Dr. check my levels as soon as possible because the prescription she had me fill was about to run out.

Again, I was told the same repetitive line, 'The Doctor is not in the office today', which I understood. At this point I was so aggravated that I was willing to make the appointment anyway but I still wanted to speak with the Doctor. Hilary continued to refuse to take a message for the Doctor. She also lied and said that the Doctor did not fill prescriptions over the phone. I have proof that Dr. Vogel has done this for me in the past and that was not even the issue here. All I needed was a prescription authorizing blood work prior to my visit so that she could correctly adjust my medication.

As you can imagine, my frustration was growing and I asked her 'has your office ever gotten a law suit for treating your patient in this manner?' she said for me to 'GO AHEAD AND CALL A LAWYER!!' and hung up on me. And then within 10 minutes she called me back to say that the Doctor was discharging me as a patient and they were cancelling any future appointments.' How can a Doctor give a nurse such authority to treat her/his own patient in that manner?

I am infuriated with the situation especially when Dr. Vogel herself had told me that if I ever had any questions for her, that I should call and even if she was not available, that I could leave a message and she would return my call. I resent the fact that Hilary blocked my patient right to have Dr. Vogel call me and that I was discharged attempting to stand up for my patient rights.

I am writing this letter with the hope that I will be able to see some kind of Justice in this matter. I appreciate your time in looking into this case.

Beckabella
Henderson, Nevada
U.S.A.