When I got home from work yesterday, two men in suits were standing in front of my porch.
Suits? I thought. Is something federal going down in the hood?
So I approached them and said, "Can I help you?"
And they said, "Yes...we're looking for Sarah."
"That's me," I said. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, we're missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints," they said. "Your doctor told us you were interested in speaking with us."
"He didn't tell me," I said.
So yeah. Apparently the nice old Jewish doctor that I went to see for my antidepressant prescription last Friday is a nice old Mormon doctor...who took it upon himself to give my UNPUBLISHED ADDRESS to these guys to come solicit me for their religion.
Now, it's not like I don't appreciate the thought. But he didn't say anything at all to me about the church, or tell me, "You should talk to these people," or ask me if he could give out my private information to anyone.
And yes, as I was describing my depression to my doctor, I in fact did say that I live far from family and have had trouble finding a church. But I certainly wasn't wanting him to do anything about it beyond signing my precription.
The situation itself was funny. I was very polite and disengaged, and sent them on their way. ("So you're doing the mission thing," I said at one point. "...how's that going for you?") But the circumstances of the situation are frankly a little creepy.
I think that his action was highly unethical for a number of reasons. I mean, you can't even call Information to find me. I'm not only unlisted, I'm unpublished. For the sole reason that I want my privacy, rooted in a desire for the safety of anonymity. And now these missions-oriented men know where I live.
Yargh. Life is weird.
6 comments:
Yeah, he was way out of line on that one. I'd want to call him on it, but that's just hard to do. "Um, that time you gave out my personal information and didn't tell me about it? Yeah, don't do that, k?"
I would bring it up to him casually, and if he seems not that concerned about it, I would make an anonymous call to your local Mental Health Authority. They won't take his license away or anything, but they will let him know how many different boundaries that breaks.
I've been steeped in Mental Health Providers Ethics classes lately, so this is all fresh of the mental press.
Caught in a weird situation uh.
Blantant HIPPA violation - aka ILLEGAL! Not only did he not have the right to give out any of your personal information, as a doctor he is legally prohibited from doing so. I would bring that up to him, casually, but not threateningly, though if you reported him, he would get some serious professional and legal sanctions brought against him.
It's time for an inquisition
Hey, on a totally off-topic note, I just checked your Xanga blog for the first time in about eight years and discovered your references to me, Anne Hartman and Billy Collins. Ah, "Workshop" - the utter mindboggling brilliance.
But anyway, that reminded me that Anne was going to attempt to get in touch with you but didn't know if she had your current email address. Did she ever manage to make contact?
Post a Comment