Am I the only one who is extremely grossed out by this story? Clicking on this thread grosses me out which is why I haven't posted. This woman just seems disgusting.

As for real topic, I feel like it has been discussed on GC before. Almost no medical procedures should be done without the patient's and/or family's consent. I see that as an issue of legality, ethics, and morality.

That's a different issue as my disgust for this woman. Ideally, she would request to be sterilized or God would randomly do that for us. But, a waste of tax payer dollars and being a horrendous parent does not open the door for involuntary sterilization. Condoning that would open the door for something that has happened to "deviants" in the past and would become an unstoppable force when those in power are able to decide who should be involuntarily sterilized.

Octomom

True and I think even before then.

I forgot to mention that bringing your own IUD is just strange and gross. I definitely don't think that makes sense. People can set doctors up for malpractice suits and all sorts of things if they bring in their own medical devices. Yikes.

She seems nasty to me as well. And the part about bringing the IUD IS disgusting as well.

I mean I get the part (now) what someone said earlier about purchasing and bringing your own devices, but it still seems like setting yourself up for 'fail' by doing so...sealed or not.

With technology, litigation, and "crazy" at the level that it is these days, I don't think people should be trusted to bring their own devices in what appears to be the original packaging.

Medications, perhaps. Devices, no.

Not even meds.

IUDs are usually inserted at doctors' offices, and I would assume that the vast majority of OB-GYNs that perform this procedure would stock these, mainly because they do them frequently. Bringing your own implantable device to a facility would be rare, but it does happen and it is legal. I think it's funny how offended people are at the concept. Would you really mishandle something that would be put inside of you?

Some of these items are very expensive to stock and expire if not used (especially IUDs that contain medications) so hospitals may not choose to stock all forms. Hospitals often don't stock all medications as well. They have "formularies" that contain medications that their pharmacy committees have negotiated prices for that save them money. They do NOT stock all drugs so if you go to a hospital and your medication is not on the formulary, you can either take a similar medication or bring your own and take it. There is no giant mall of medical implants at these hospitals so if you need something that they don't carry, it is often easier for the patient to procure the item prior to surgery. For more high priced items, like orthopaedic hardware, the sales rep actually comes to the operating room with the implants and even shows the surgeon how to use them. When any item is brought in from outside and the item has been tampered with (and it is easy to tell if they have been) they won't be used. Hospitals, obviously, have procedures set in place to assure compliance and safety, but it would be pretty hard for a patient to sue the hospital or doctor if she/he tampered with the product.

If you are doing so for the purpose of suing for malpractice.

Crazy people have done all sorts of things to set others up. Never heard of people harming themselves to accuse someone else of doing it?

(specific to thread) Considering that 3 of her kids are no longer under her care, I wouldn't trust this whack job to bring my Quarter Pounder from the counter to the booth.

(general) People may not intentionally mishandle things, but just out of ignorance not store it or handle it properly. Why should they know how to do that? They aren't medical professionals. And as DrPhil said, people will do lots of crazy things to get $$$. Finger in the Wendy's chili, anyone?

I was gonna mention the Wendy's chili finger or the instances where people have whooped their own asses to get someone else in trouble.

Yeah, but someone brings an IUD with a finger in it, and it doesn't get used. There is a big difference between having a person get a product and use it themselves and use it incorrectly and get a product and have it used by a medical professional. It is obviously not as big a deal as y'all seem to think since it does occur. The risk is no worse than prescribing a medication to a patient and have them take it incorrectly or inappropriately. Hell, nothing stops those kinds of patients from rubbing feces in their wounds if they want to claim malpractice...people aren't that crazy that often (it does happen, I do have stories, but it is REALLY rare!) There is inherent risk in the profession. Hospitals have lawyers and risk management people on staff thinking of how to avoid potential lawsuits, so the risk is pretty minimal.

Patients are educated what to do with the equipment they buy, but an IUD doesn't just come packaged on a hanger like a pair of earrings. It's in a sterile package packed inside of a packing box like you would get a new iPhone or something. It's not like getting a live animal that needs to be fed. Stick it in your closet then remember to bring it on the day of your procedure. Leaving it in the sun or in your car won't make it disentegrate.

eh...okay...we know that safety nets are only in place after there's proof of mishandling rather than suspicion of the potential for mishandling.

Box in a box or not, this concept still yucks me out, and I have a pretty high tolerance for yucky things.

Well, all medical products are inspected before use whether or not they are provided by the hospital, because even hospitals have been known to provide expired products, products with broken seals, broken implants,etc. Every item must be inspected for intact packaging, expiration dates, signs of mishandling (ie crushing, folding, evidence of breakage) before using on a patient. It must also be confirmed that the correct product is being used since many malpractice issues have centered around this issue. There is nothing new under the sun...