'He said I was too exposed': BC woman says doctor refused treatment over what she was wearing

A B.C. woman is speaking out about an experience she had with a virtual doctor’s appointment through the TELUS Health app.

Carly McGhee told Global News she has used the service many times in the past as it’s hard to find a family doctor in Vancouver.

She couldn’t get an appointment for a week and it slipped her mind recently until she was in the middle of an at-home workout and received a notification about her call with a doctor.

She said when she answered the phone, she apologized for forgetting the appointment and explained how she was in the middle of a workout.

“The doctor said if you are not in a private place or covered up, I cannot speak to you,” McGhee added. “I said, ‘No, I’m at home, I’m in a private place and I am covered up’.”

She said the doctor insisted she needed to cover up and she explained she was in a sports bra.

“That’s when he proceeded to tell me I was not covered up enough and then asked me if I would go out in public dressed the way that I was or if I would go to another medical appointment dressed the way that I was.”

She said she assured him she would and from there, McGhee said he told her she was too exposed and he could not speak to someone dressed that way.

#GlobalNews #GlobalBC

[womenrights]

Absolutely disgusting that women have to be subjected to this sexist misogynistic attitude and treatment by men. Especially someone who’s a doctor. I am repulsed.

[arigoldstein]

Seems like the ones getting mostly upset here are Muslim men... Hmm 🤔

[bharat]

The real question here is why are muslim men so focused on women and what they wear? Why does that upset them so much? They should focus more on themselves less on others.

[PayamShirazi]

Doctor's license should be suspended immediately.

[EmilSosnin]

>left shaken from the experience
Doubt it

[mukhtiarsidhu]

A doctor is a doctor not a religious leader to impose their views on others on how they should dress. The medical field is not a place to impose your religious views. Canada is a multicultural country not just a Muslim country. Denying somebody services because of the way they are dressed is unacceptable if a Muslim women was denied services for wearing a hijab they would be complaining “racism” “islamophobia”. Double standards if you ask me...

[johnhmielewski]

Why didn't she wear a sports bra for her global news interview then?

[latisha.]

How ignorant must you be to refuse somebody medical care because of they way they are dressed? It’s not like she was naked... And it was over zoom not in person. So what is this doctors problem? Doctors take an oath and part of that oath is to give proper medical care to their patients without judging someone regardless of their race, religion, gender or how they are dressed. If you can’t handle it you should not be a doctor.

[strongandfree]

I had the same experience with a Muslim doctor. Wouldn’t be surprised if this doctor was also.

[kimsoon]

I am a doctor and the amount of ignorance in the comments disgusts me. I treat my patients no matter how they are dressed. If this doctor cannot handle a women dressed in a simple sports bra he should seek another profession.

[luketracey]

as a former healthcare worker I can tell you that you very quickly become immune to nudity ...or you go home because you're incapable of doing your job.

[prussianbluephantom]

If you're working with anatomy, clothing is the LEAST of a professional's worries. You're supposed to heal a patient, not obsess with your own repression. Any so called doctor who mistreats their patients with such creepy and poor mannerisms needs to be banned from this profession.

[Happy.Accident.]

Her outfit wasn’t appropriate. I think the dr made the right decision.

[Gryphyn]

I can understand her, I had a family doc who refused to touch me or my husband (gay couple) from the neck down, she cited religious reasons for it, (muslim woman). It was extremely difficult to get any kind of real exam done. Sounds like her doc could be from that same kind of background.

[jfkennedy]

The Dr is right. He wants to avoid any type of sexual assault claimed against him. I support the Dr.

[Jay-jqbl]

Strange of the doctor to react that way, but we're only hearing one side of this and I don't see why this is news worthy or worth fretting over. Just contact someone else. People get too worked up these days.

[Comrade_Tokoloshe]

Has that doctor ever seen patients dressed in those open at the back gowns they make you wear in hospitals?

[trishs]

I’m sure the doctor would rather get a complaint about refusing to do a call, than one about sexually inappropriate behaviour. Say he took the call and she decided he was looking at her breasts. No win situation for the doctor, imo he made the right choice.

[PrtySmrt]

Given the polarized climate over sexuality that exists today and as a healthcare practitioner I can certainly understand why a male physician might have felt uncomfortable given the top the client was wearing which I too thought inappropriate and did look like nothing more than a bra. Unfortunately complaining to the College of Physicians and Surgeons will be irrelevant they have so much money they couldn't care less. Having called with much more significant concerns I've found them useless. They are in need of oversight similar to that of the CNO. The physician should have been polite and just explained his concerns, thanked the client for being understanding and referred the client on. Hanging up on patients and self righteous attitudes from doctors or any healthcare professional is less than acceptable and has a negative impact on patient well-being.

[everywheremirror]

One sided story, I want to hear from the doctor side