Unnecessary overpriced "Surgery"

[dutchweller]

So I went to what I thought was a reasonable Hospital ( Will remain Un Named) on Sukhumvit road near Ekamai BTS station.....

For an uncomfortable minor medical condition that would require to be lanced....

The normal procedure is done in a doctors surgery with local anesthetics..

Nothing major usually scalpel cut, squeeze, clean and cover all about 5-10 minutes..

normal cost 2-4000 Baht 

 

Met with a GP doctor who examined the problem and then proceeded to poke at it with a metal probe..all the while asking if it hurt when he poked it...I said Yes your bloody poking it...

He then snapped off his gloves and asked me to join him at his desk..

He looks at me ad says well you will need surgery... I am a little shocked and say surgery?? then I thought perhaps he jst means the lancing and he is using the wrong terms.. He then asks me to wait out in the waiting room with my wife while he prepares the cost breakdown..

10 minutes later a staff member asks me to sign a document..

I read it over and it states "Surgery" 4 days stay in hospital 75,000 Baht..... I gasp and say what the hell is this?

The staff says its a quote..pleas sign it... I say no way ..Staff member leaves and then comes back and asks me to join him and the doctor in his office..

Doctor then tries to convince me that it is normal .. I say like hell is a local anesthetic and non surgical procedure that I have had done at least 3 times before..

I then ask him how he can justify that and also how can this procedure cost almost as much as the birth of our child due next week with my wife staying in hospital for 5 days and all inclusive is 85,000.... he just looks at me with a dumb blank stare..says nothing ...

Then another quote is shoved in front of me new quote 40,000 1 nights stay.. I basically tell him where he can shove it..

We then left and went to a local clinic and the doctor there examined the problem and said it should not be lanced and just let it heal without any cutting he then prescribed some anti inflammatory medication and we were done..

2 days later the problem has gone..

 

So long story short watch out for these money grubbing doctors you can always refuse them ( I know they are not used to being questioned) and letth them know your not accepting what they have said and get  second diagnosis..

 

RANT over...

DUTCH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unnecessary overpriced "Surgery"

[xylophone]

Yes, I've had the same thing happen in one particular hospital in my area on a number of occasions, so it does pay to question the cost you are quoted.

 

I had what appeared to be a small type of growth/cyst just outside the corner of my eye, close to the bridge of my nose and when I got concerned about it I went to see a doctor at Bangkok Phuket Hospital and she quoted me 11,000 baht to have it surgically removed (it was about the size of a child's small fingernail) and then a further cost to have cosmetic surgery, estimating that it might cost as much again to do this.

 

I decided to self medicate with Aldara cream, being very careful on the application and within a month it had disappeared.

[KittenKong]

9 hours ago, dutchweller said:

So long story short watch out for these money grubbing doctors .......

 

Doctors, and every other trade or profession. Overcharging is a national pastime.

[meatboy]

11 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

Doctors, and every other trade or profession. Overcharging is a national pastime.

and the vets aswell

[balo]

I will only do surgery if it's an emergency here in Thailand. Anything else I just find another solution.

 

I was asked to pay 280000 baht to remove a fragment from the spine,  it touched the nerve so it caused me severe pain in the lower back and down to my left leg , I could not sleep at night. I asked the doctor if it could get better if I waited 6 months , I had looked up information online about other cases, but no way, the doctor insisted this was a perfect case to do this type of surgery after looking at my MRI scan. He told me the nerve  pain would remain the same, even after 6 months. 

Well , I decided to wait and started a B1-B6-B12 treatment that was recommended by western doctors online and after only 3 months my pain had almost gone. Now it's been 8 months and I am cured, it feels like a miracle really, because I could hardly walk 10 months ago. 

 

Do not listen to the doctors here until you checked all other options. 

 

 

 

 

 

[impulse]

Need more details to make a judgment.

 

There's always the possibility that the reason you're getting it done for the 4th time (according to your post) is because they're not doing it right?

 

Not that I disagree with your suggestion to question (and get second opinions) on any major medical matters here in LOS.  On that topic, my experience mirrors your own.

[dutchweller]

Its not a reoccurring aliment in the same place so having it lanced is the correct treatment for the problem.

and I dont disagree with that but what I disagree with is them saying a lancing is a 4 night stay in hospital and regarded as surgery....with equivalent costs to birthing a baby ..

 

 

 

 

[peeba7]

These stories are too numerous and shameful.  DO NO HARM! HA! First I go to all the pharmacists, then I go to all the clinics, of course after doing research, when all else fails I call a doctor or two I can 'kind of' trust'   I think nurses and pharmacists are just as knowledgeable about simple problems as doctors, and well doctors love to play god.  I advice against any and all surgery especially back, knee, hand, bone, cartilage, etc... until all other possible options are exhausted.  Too many people come out worse than when they went into surgery. Doctors make mistakes and people here do not like to take responsibility for them, yes? About the money, many ailments  can be treated with simple natural cheap and effective remedies.  Best of luck.

Edited October 4, 2016 by peeba7

[Sheryl]

Be aware that most people behind pharmacy counters are not real, full grade pharmacists. They exist (and are indeed knowledgeable) , but can be hard to find. In my experience most people taking the advice of "pharmacists" are not being advised by a first grade pharmacist and I have seen quite a lot of harm result.

 

Likewise in my experience, small clinics are usually best avoided unless you know for a fact that they are run by an unusually well qualified doctor with adequate arrangement for diagnostic tests where needed ( lab work, imaging etc).   In most of the country, clinics are best avoided (and I have seen some really horrific malpractice coming out of them). Chiang Mai seems to be an exception in that some of the best specialists at CMU (but by no means all) seem to have their own private practices.  in most places, however, the best doctors do their private pratice out of hospital OPDs and small clinics are often quite dodgy.

 

Whether at a clinic or a hospital OPD,  it is selection of the doctor that is critical, need to do your homework. There are some excellent, westeren-trained doctors to be found in Thailand but you have to seek them out (and they are almost all to be found in major cities).