Complaint Review: Dr. Michael Hanks MD.

Hi there :-)  You make a reasoned argument (so rare on ROR!!)  My daughter is now fine and we don't anticipate any recurrence (thank you).

I'm mixed on vaccines... True story: both my daughters received all the normal vaccines. My youngest, at age 7, woke up one morning with mumps!  Having had it myself as a child, I knew exactly what it was.  But try convincing the idiot nurse at the peds clinic who insisted that since she had been vaccinated, I must be wrong :-)  Only one doctor in the clinic had ever seen mumps before!

My older daughter (with the cancer) actually works in a research environment in which she must be vaccinated regularly against things I've never even heard of (and I'm pretty well educated). It's scary, but she's OK with it. She once explained all the science behind it, so I must rely on her good judgment.

I think the OP has a valid point, but I think you have one as well.  My, my, what an interesting day on ROR!

I pray going forward your daughter never has to deal with that cancer again.

I'm not against the offering of this vaccine to children whose parents request it, or of course to consenting adults who want it.
I am against the intense cultural, media and government sponsored pressure for parents to get their kids this vaccine, let alone local/state agencies that have tried to force it on children, like Texas (How come nobody went after Rick Perry on that issue?).

Nobody can say this vaccine is time tested enough anyway to gauge how effective it will prove down the road in preventing this illness.

And it certainly shouldn't be pushed on boys, when any female desiring its protection can opt to get vaccinated and then not have to worry about the boys.

Way too many vaccines being pumped into little bodies as it is, and I have way too little faith in the party line defending them.

And any pediatrician "offering" or "suggesting" this vaccine to parents, who then end up having its cost denied by their insurer, ought to cough up the money himself/herself. Who's going to think of contacting their insurer while in an exam room, after waiting who knows how long both just to get into the room, then waiting there until the overbooked doctor deigns to show his/her face. Common and reasonable expectation is that any such "suggestion" would be covered in total as part of your standard copay for a wellness visit.

To voiceofreason.... I agree with a lot of your postings, but this time I think you're off base. How is this considered "social engineering"?  As a parent, I would want to protect my child from HPV if I could.  As it turns out, this vaccine came out too late to help my daughter who has now been treated twice for cervical cancer.

If you look at the gardisil website, it says the vaccine is recommended for girls, and that boys can receive it - although the CDC uses the word "can" instead of "recommended" as they do for girls.

To the OP.... I'm with you on this one.  We depend on doctors to give us factual information. If he presented this as a routine vaccination you were misled. But it's still incumbent upon as, as parents and consumers, to understand what our insurance will and will not cover.

The real ripoff is that doctors are being pushed to push this blasted vaccine on our young'uns for the purposes of social engineering.
Especially for boys, this vaccine gave your son no protection against anything.
And Ken, I disagree with you on this matter, because few people expect that a vaccine will not be covered. We're conditioned to expect children's vaccines are treated as normal preventative care items. The doctor or his practice knows full well when an off beat treatment is liable to run counter to most mainstream insurance policies. We never encountered any vaccine not fully covered by our standard doctor visit copay.
And I believe without a shadow of a doubt that his practice got a nice "spiff" from Guardacil's maker for delivering that shot. What he did to this family was disgusting, as is, in my humble opinion, the rabidly vociferous, government sponsored pushing of this vaccine.

While it is true that the final responsibility rests with us, we did not go to this Dr. seeking this shot for our son.  We were simply there for a routine physical.  This shot was presented to us a routine / common vaccination which we had no reason to believe would not be covered by our insurance since all others have been in the past.   Finally, yes, at $1000 for the series, for a fairly new and clearly optional vaccination, we would have passed on it had we been given the full facts.  I refer you the the below link from United Healthcare Page 21;

https://www.unitedhealthcareonline.com/ccmcontent/ProviderII/UHC/en-US/Assets/ProviderStaticFiles/ProviderStaticFilesPdf/Tools%20and%20Resources/Network%20Bulletin/M44288_Network_Bulletin_May.pdf  

They know, or should have known that this was not covered by our insurance and should have disclosed that to us so we could have made an informed choice.  ACIP DOES NOT recommend this for boys and as such it is NOT covered by most Insurance companies.  

You can put the full blame on us if you choose, but we maintain that you should be able to TRUST you Doctor to give you ALL the relevant facts about an optional vaccination and not stoop to the level of an upselling used car salesman.  

to know what each provider does and doesn't pay for.



If I've got you right on this, you are okay with protecting your son IF your insurance pays for it and NOT so okay with it if YOU have to pay...how'd I do?



Did you ask the Dr. if they paid and if so, what was his response?

Did you also ask him the cost of the shots?  What was his answer to that?



When I got my shingles vaccination, I asked the price and it was almost $300 and the Dr. didn't know if my insurance would cover it...but I DID ask first, got the shot and took my chances.  My insurance did cover part of it. Many won't.



Being pro-active with your health care provider(s) will pay dividends for you and the Dr.