Quote:
Originally Posted by onesnowyowl
That isn't the issue. The issue is doctors refusing to give women treatment or medications (specifically medications that are teratogens) because they might become pregnant someday--whether that day is tomorrow, next week, or six years from now--regardless of the circumstances of the woman's life that affect a woman's ability to conceive.
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Then you find another doctor. The issue though is about informed consent. The original discussion in the OP was about physicians who had concerns about females sharing prescription drugs. With that taken into account there is no possible way that the physician can sit down with that person and say, listen there is a good chance that if you are pregnant and take this you will give birth to a dead or malformed fetus.
You are right though, when you see a physician.. like it or not he/she is going to assess your ability to understand the warnings. He/she is going to also assess your behavior. If he/she believes that you are a risk the treatment may be denied. If a physician fails in that assessment or fails to have it properly documented, then that physician is up shit creek if things go wrong. A physician can say I don't believe in prescribing teratogenic drugs to female patients of child-bearing age that are not on birth control.
Every question you answer is being examined and considered, whether it is how many partners you have, what illicit drugs you use, how much you drink, your age, your gender, how many different physicians that you see. Call it bias if you will but it is their name, their DEA license, their Medical License, their practice, their livelihood at stake with each patient that goes out the door. Frankly, it is amazing that anyone would even want to practice medicine these days.