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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA Woman Was Denied Medication for Being of 'Childbearing Age.' She Just Sued the Hospital
Last edited Fri Oct 6, 2023, 12:45 PM - Edit history (1)
https://jezebel.com/childbearing-age-medication-denied-lawsuit-1850899899Last September, New York resident Tara Rule posted a raw, emotional video on Tiktok saying she had been denied a medication to treat a debilitating condition called cluster headaches, because her neurologist told her she was of “childbearing age” and the medication could cause birth defects to a hypothetical fetus.
Rule said that as she sat in her neurologist’s office at Glens Falls Hospital, she told him she never planned to have kids and would have an abortion if she became pregnant; referencing the overturning of Roe v. Wade, he responded that getting the care she was seeking is “trickier now with the way things are going.” He also said she should bring her partner “in on the conversation” on her medical care. Rule asked if the issue preventing her from getting the “highly effective” medication was solely that she could become pregnant and, “If I was, like, through menopause, would [the medication] be very effective for cluster headaches?” The doctor affirmed it would. He also asked about her sex life and whether she’s “with a steady person.” Rule shared audio recordings of the appointment on TikTok at the time.
Last week, Rule filed a lawsuit against Albany Medical Health Partners charging the largest hospital system in upstate New York with discrimination over the denial of her medication and a string of incidents afterward. The suit alleges that denying her medication because she’s of “childbearing age” and prioritizing an imagined fetus over her health violates federal law—specifically, the Affordable Care Act’s anti-discrimination provisions and the Age Discrimination Act. “Where are we drawing the line here?” Rule told Jezebel. “Are hospitals going to require someone to share a pregnancy test, proof they’re on birth control, get a hysterectomy, to get life-saving health care?” She said she hopes her lawsuit can create more medical protections for people of “childbearing age” post-Roe.
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leftstreet
(40,670 posts)Good for her!
Hekate
(100,133 posts)
wnylib
(26,009 posts)of women. Sounds like the doctor is personally anti abortion and inflicting his views on her.
Or, does he fear that she would sue him if she later found out that she was pregnant and miscarried or gave birth to a baby with birth defects? Couldn't he provide her with an informed consent form to prevent that?
LeftInTX
(34,286 posts)You aren't supposed to get pregnant within six months of stopping it.
I highly doubt that any medication that treats cluster headaches would be worse than Accutane! I wonder what the medication is? I take high doses of Gabapentin to prevent migraine.
I don't see any meds on the list that are strong teratogens. Some should probably be stopped if pregnant, but I don't think a small dose will cause major harm.
https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/resource-library/cluster-headache-treatment-options/
AlexSFCA
(6,319 posts)LeftInTX
(34,286 posts)phylny
(8,818 posts)She chose birth control pills and abstinence, since she was young and uninvolved in dating at that point in her life.
ShazzieB
(22,582 posts)My daughter was on it for a while in high school and had to sign a form promising to use 2 forms of birth control. She put down birth control pills and condoms, even though she wasn't sexually active yet, like your daughter. At least the birth control pills helped a lot with her pms, so it wasn't all for nought.
That was during the Bush years, and I blamed the Shrub for the policy, which I assumed was instituted to prevent abortions (because Accuane can cause some pretty serious birth defects). I don't know if the Bush administration was actually responsible for that rule, but it made sense to me at the time. 
CrispyQ
(40,969 posts)Even more over the top than this bullshit? Call in child services?
We stop this now or it will never end. They will push & push until women's reproductive decisions are made by a committee of men who meet once a month.
mahina
(20,645 posts)
moonshinegnomie
(4,017 posts)i know several women in texas who got sterilized as a result of RvW being overturned. they had trouble finding someone to do the procedure. as far as im concerned every doctor who refused them should lose their medical license.
I may be a 61 yr old white male but I find the entire idea of a doctor refusing treatment becasue they dont agree with a patients lifestyle choice to be repugnant to the extreme. if a doctor isnt willing to preform a common procedure like that they have no business being a doctor.
Delmette2.0
(4,503 posts)My OB-GYN told me flat out, that a tubal ligation was absolutely ok, "You're the one who gets pregnant." I was 30 years old and had two children.
How times have changed. 
Elessar Zappa
(16,385 posts)For the better. My mom had to go to seven doctors before one would agree to the procedure. This was 1983. Women were way more likely to be denied getting their tubes tied in the decades past. Of course the fact that there’s still a minority of women being denied care is bullshit and the doctor should lose their license.
housecat
(3,138 posts)Same today, it often depends on where doctors and hospitals (and rights) are located. It shouldn't be that way but it always has been.
csziggy
(34,189 posts)I had no children and most doctors would not believe that I would never change my mind. I'm now 71 and didn't change my mind or regret getting a tubal ligation. In fact I wish I'd had a hysterectomy instead. I had migraines and severe bleeding every month for all those years until I finally got a hysterectomy in 2002. My life has been so much better since. All those years that I could have avoided all that pain - but it was hard enough getting the tubal, so I had to live with it.
ETA - I even had one OB-GYN tell me that women just had to suffer - and she was a women! I didn't trust women doctors after that for decades.
Delmette2.0
(4,503 posts)I just got rid of my last male doctor. Whew.
Backseat Driver
(4,671 posts)Another divorced a partner because cancer took away her ability to have the child her partner desired in life. Denying sexual pleasure in a relationship isn't a wise choice either...at any mature-enough age or with full acceptance of consequences that shit happens, that choice for any better choice a woman chooses...better education, better career, better health, better genes of the potential child; better partner, for one's own life. Be careful what you promise...if you have no intention to unselfishly perform what you've promised or created. Fundamentalist evangelical religion seems to require one to often live in conscious lifelong furtherance of the biblically promised sorrow and regret so painful that it leads to literal self-sacrifice; there's no dignity or self-esteem in that, but hey, a woman's safe medical care in reproductive choices are those I will always respect; her fate in finding pleasure and purpose within her private life may be undignified or painful in life for which one may choose a response by ROL or social civility, but their fate in any possible hereafter isn't my concern nor is a fear of any complicity in allowing her that choice.
progressoid
(53,179 posts)She told the Doc she wanted to get her tubes tied after the c-section.
He said sure and it was done. Eazy peezy.
Today our daughters have deleted the period tracking apps on their phones for fear it would be used against them. Times have definitely changed, and not for the better.
MLAA
(19,743 posts)country.
brush
(61,033 posts)on the decision, and also asking about her sex life?
Very intrusive and patronizing behavior.
TNNurse
(7,541 posts)brush
(61,033 posts)
KentuckyWoman
(7,400 posts)When I was a teen and 20s..... we joked that women going to a doctor for a broken finger or the sniffles had to get naked in the stirrups.
Even recently I ran into a doctor who thinks cardiac problems in widows are purely psychological. I took a friend to her appointment and heard it come out of his own face. I was appalled. She's with a different doc now !!
LizBeth
(11,222 posts)never once had to explain, cajole, reason or convince.
SouthernDem4ever
(6,619 posts)
republianmushroom
(22,323 posts)
Stargazer99
(3,517 posts)it is the medical enity not the state
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,955 posts)wnylib
(26,009 posts)
TSExile
(3,363 posts)Just because these self-righteous, hypocritical men think all females should be breeder cows who need to be regulated, doesn't mean we females want to be. I'm 44 and have never been pregnant - and I'm proud of it. They have some nerve!! 
phylny
(8,818 posts)and never thought of myself as a "breeder cow."
TSExile
(3,363 posts)...my sister has four. I meant to say that I feel these politicians see females in general as breeder cows, and said it badly. I didn't mean to insult anyone.
SpankMe
(3,720 posts)I wonder why a doc would be so cautious about this? Abortion is still legal in NY.
You tell the patient the risks and prescribe the med if prescribing guidelines are met.
Rebl2
(17,738 posts)and doesn’t think women should have abortions?
iluvtennis
(21,497 posts)
LoveMyCali
(2,047 posts)We may be in NY but make no mistake, it's a hillbilly hellscape up here.
WhiskeyGrinder
(26,955 posts)Because he feels he has a right to dictate what she does with her body.
calimary
(90,017 posts)Darwins_Retriever
(949 posts)I had to get my then wife sign her approval.
Farmer-Rick
(12,667 posts)If you had no wife? Your mother's? Your father's?
Who owns the rights to your sperm if not you?
Thankfully that doesn't come up often, but you should have fought it.
druidity33
(6,915 posts)i was told i had to see a therapist and have him sign off in order to have the surgery without having my wifes' signature. This was in MA.
Farmer-Rick
(12,667 posts)Talk about government control over your body and life. I would have told them to go take a hike and gone to another state or county.
I knew a guy who had a vasectomy in his early 20s. No one stopped him, made him seek counseling or anything. This was in PA back in 1978. He never regretted his decision.
LizBeth
(11,222 posts)LizBeth
(11,222 posts)Darwins_Retriever
(949 posts)even after warning the woman of the hazards. they take the medicine. Birth a child who is either stillborn or disabled, then sue the doctor and win.
vanlassie
(6,248 posts)LeftInTX
(34,286 posts)I was gonna sue when I was dumped, but the lawyer told me I was out of luck. They dump to avoid liability. When I read the article, it sounds like she's been a bit of a PITA. They can dump you for no reason and if you're a complainer, they will dump you. It's disgusting. It sounds like she's having trouble getting medical care in general, so that's why I think she may have been dumped.
I was dumped when I was pregnant. She's having to go out of state for treatment...(It almost sounds like she's blacklisted)
an employee at the hospital contacted another hospital in the area, alleging that Rule livestreamed her appointments. This led to Rule’s removal from the second hospital, Malta Medical (also under Albany Medical Health Partners), in the middle of treatment for her cluster headaches. Rule denies livestreaming. In the lawsuit, Rule alleges her nurse practitioner at Malta discharged her against her will with the help of armed security, but her insurance company was told that she voluntarily left mid-treatment, which Rule argues amounts to falsification of records. Rule also alleges that the nurse practitioner who had her removed at Malta violated her privacy rights by sending Facebook messages to Rule’s partner that include her medical details.
In the months since Rule was denied care at Glens Falls Hospital, she maintains that she’s been “essentially blacklisted” by hospitals in the area, forcing her to travel out-of-state for medical care and incur significant out-of-pocket costs.
ExWhoDoesntCare
(4,741 posts)Get this straight: MISOGYNY KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES.
I know this, first hand. I endured an MD giving me grief for wanting a tubal ligation. He did not want to do it and tried every sexist and twisted argument imaginable to try to talk me out of it. Even tried that disgusting, 'And what if your child dies?'
Only a man would be so bloody stupid as to think another child could or would replace that child in my heart.
He also demanded that I get my soon-to-be-ex's permission for the procedure. That's right--I was separated from my then-husband. I told that egomaniacal jerkwad that he would agree to it, or he would regret it, in more ways than he could imagine. That's why I was there when he called the doctor and said, "Why are you requiring my input about this? It's her body, she can do what she wants with it. Besides, nobody tells her what she can or can't do. Her mother and I will send you sympathy cards about how futile that is."
Even when I was being pushed into surgery, that sexist pig MD was trying to talk me out of it, until a nurse finally told him to leave me alone, I obviously wasn't changing my mind about it, I was there and not showing one iota of reluctance about it, which would be a hint to anyone who wasn't a moron.
The year?
1992. The place? CALIFORNIA. San Francisco, to be specific.
So don't tell us this can't happen, even in a blue state, because it does happen. Even now. All of the bloody time.
This is what life is really like for those without centuries of unearned privilege backing them up.
progressoid
(53,179 posts)That asshole (I won't call him a doctor) needs to be booted from the system.
Hekate
(100,133 posts)What a horror show for you
Lonestarblue
(13,477 posts)that are not preventing the free exercise of religion but allowing religious beliefs to override individual rights. I used to just be agnostic, but I’m quickly moving to anti-religion. Do what you want in private but leave your attempts to control what other people do out of public life.
ExWhoDoesntCare
(4,741 posts)It's not some wishy-washy middle ground between theism and atheism. That's because it's not a belief position, but a *knowledge* position.
That's why most atheists are also agnostics. Because they lack *knowledge* about the existence of deities, and the atheism is their *belief* position, as in the lack of belief in imaginary psychopaths in the sky.
You didn't even know that Richard Dawkins, the most hated atheist for idiots since Madelyn Murray O'Hare, is a self-professed agnostic atheist, did you?
Well he is.
Really.
Welcome to reality.
ProfessorGAC
(76,695 posts)...relate to the one to which you replied?
The only thing in common was the word "agnostic".
You seem to be arguing against a point nobody made.
And, in a fairly nasty way.
Attilatheblond
(8,876 posts)
nuxvomica
(14,092 posts)It sounds like the physician was either doing this on his own or obeying some corporate directive because this is New York state where abortion is legal. However, we are in a red district (Stefanik's) and it wouldn't surprise me if the neurologist was a right-winger.
riversedge
(80,808 posts)bucolic_frolic
(55,131 posts)The state, the religious right, her partners were also there, at least in the doctor's mind.
AZSkiffyGeek
(12,744 posts)I didn't realize there were so many doctors who were so concerned about patients having hypothetical children.
marybourg
(13,640 posts)experiences like this. I thought we were long past that.
ahlnord
(117 posts)This doctor was basically saying that the woman was not his patient -- a potential, non-existent but theoretically possible fetus that he was conjuring up in his brain was his patient. The woman was merely a vessel for that potential, theoretically possible patient. I would find this unbelievable and outrageous even in a deeply conservative state where abortion is criminalized, but in New York?!!!
LiberalFighter
(53,544 posts)Some with even more disgusting medical treatments refused.
sinkingfeeling
(57,834 posts)
Kath2
(3,192 posts)Absolutely sickening.
LiberalFighter
(53,544 posts)Even before Roe was overturned, in 2021, a pregnant woman in Alabama was arrested and prosecuted for trying to pick up pain medication from her pharmacist to manage a chronic back condition, as police alleged she was endangering her pregnancy. Rule told Jezebel she’s heard from “people who say they were denied everything from acne medication to chemotherapy for the same reason.”
if..fish..had..wings
(880 posts)With the SC we have, things could get worse
John1956PA
(4,964 posts). . . the Right-Wing doctor is risking the death of the hypothetical mother.
dchill
(42,660 posts)And it could cause birth defects in that hypothetical fetus. It's consistent: they are only pro life that doesn't yet exist. Life that DOES exist can fend for itself - and possibly get shot at the border.
Of course, they might just get shipped to Martha's Vineyard.
Joinfortmill
(21,162 posts)Response to sinkingfeeling (Original post)
maliaSmith This message was self-deleted by its author.
ZonkerHarris
(25,577 posts)
Warpy
(114,614 posts)Cluster headaches are horrible and have driven patients to suicide when they've gone untreated.
I can see withholding the medication until the woman gets an IUD or other birth control method, they do the same for Accutane and for the same reason.
Leaving this woman in agony is medical neglect. She needs to find another doc, get treatment, and sue this bastard.
(Why the HELL don't males believe us when we say we don't want children? I ran into Medieval attitude this a lot)
LeftInTX
(34,286 posts)Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a group of inherited disorders that affect your connective tissues — primarily your skin, joints and blood vessel walls. Connective tissue is a complex mixture of proteins and other substances that provide strength and elasticity to the underlying structures in your body.
People who have vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome are at risk of often fatal ruptures of major blood vessels. Some organs, such as the uterus and intestines, also may rupture. Pregnancy can increase the risk of a rupture in the uterus.
I doubt she plans on getting pregnant and I'm sure that she could provide proof of birth control.
Unfortunately, she's also getting a reputation as a PITA. Did you know a doctor can dump you? They totally have the "right to refuse". They don't need to provide a reason. Being a PITA is more than enough of a reason.
I was dumped when I was pregnant because I had a medical condition.
Women on methadone are often denied OB care. They go through the county system.
Iris
(16,872 posts)
Boomerproud
(9,291 posts)Just asking.
AllaN01Bear
(29,486 posts)flying_wahini
(8,275 posts)
TygrBright
(21,362 posts)JanMichael
(25,725 posts)Also sue the board of the hospital and each individual member.
There's an affiliate LLC sued that and every listed owner.
If the actual visit occurred in a building owned by somebody else and being leased sue them too.
Sue the doctors hair stylist and his dentist. Sue every mother f****** one of them.
Demovictory9
(37,113 posts)Ms. Toad
(38,635 posts)My daughter has had 5 pregnancy tests in the last month - all required prior to medical procedures.
They finally stopped requiring me to have pregnancy tests prior to surgery sometime in my 50s (after I had gone more than a year without a period).
I agree her doctor's practice is discriminatory, and fully support her lawsuit. I'm just wondering what version of reality she has been living in that she is unaware that pregnancy tests have been required for decades for a lot of medical care.
LeftInTX
(34,286 posts)I've been dumped when I was pregnant. I contacted a lawyer and they said, "They can do that for no reason at all".
Ms. Toad
(38,635 posts)It's like most any other voluntary legal relationship. Absent a contract, the relationship can be terminated by either party at any time. But if the reason for the termation is based on a protected class (here, gender), the termination is likely illegal. But you have to prove that is the basis for the termination.
There is a better case for suing based on the treatment (or non-treatment) before being dumped.
LeftInTX
(34,286 posts)severe migraines.
I had excellent doctors with my first and second pregnancies. We had treatment plans and the whole bit. But our insurance changed and this new doctor didn't want anything to do with me, once she found out I had awful migraines.
The treatment was BP meds and one other common caffeine/codeine based migraine med. (Can't remember the med, but it was real common at the time)
(I think the med was Fiorinal as needed for severe migraines) The BP med was for prevention.
I eventually found another OB, and he agreed to prescribe the meds once I got in my second trimester.
Ms. Toad
(38,635 posts)In other words, they aren't rejecting all pregnant women - only high risk pregnant women. It might be malpractice for them to take on high risk pregnancies. That might be just a pretext, but that's arder to prove.
The year also matters. Gender discrimination wasn't illegal until the 60s, and it wasn't until the late 70s that pregnacy was recognized as part of gender discrimination.
Aussie105
(7,920 posts)Sue them, make them get their procedures and priorities right.
It's the only way to motivate them to do so.
budkin
(6,849 posts)So he can be avoided.
Snackshack
(2,587 posts)In loss of privileges from the state or hospitals up to a loss of license to practice for people who put themselves in a position to block any health related medications or procedure one needs.
To have a doctor not prescribe a med or do a procedure or a pharmacist not fill a prescription because of a personal dogma is horseshit and we shouldn’t tolerate it.
A person can believe whatever they like but they can’t impose it on others because they think they and their imaginary friend are somehow superior.