How very strange. You would think she would have expected your response to be negative, given what is now known about this guy. I wonder if she perhaps felt that she is somehow indicted by her previous association with him, and said those things in an attempt to save face for her own self, in a way? I don't know. It's just very odd, and she could very well be "not quite right in the head", so try not to let it get to you. (Although I completely understand why it would.)

I'm sorry you had to deal with that Lukki, but kudos to you for the way you handled it! I think Annie has the right idea on this. No matter what you could have said, you would probably not sway her.

Thanks Tina, yes I have to agree, love your response Annie, you always find the best quotes, thank you. I was just sort of taken back by her whole dialog and never dreamed anyone could have seen it that way. Her manager had a pretty surprised look on her face as well. Just when you think you've seen it all. LOL

I would find that whole encounter so troubling. Why even bring it up? Maybe she was afraid you would recognize her and this was a defense mechanism.

Yes, I do believe her weird spiel was a sort of defense mechanism.

I'm sorry you had to deal with her. I can imagine it must have been very difficult to bite your tongue.

You absolutely did the right thing. You were there representing your employer so you had to maintain a professional demeanor. Just roll your eyes and let it go. She should have been reprimanded for putting you in that spot.

I agree with all of the above. My husband always likes to say that there are three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth.

This would make my blood boil. But as already stated, you took the high road.

The only thing I might have done differently is when I saw the direction of the conversation, I would have politely said that I didn't want to be late for my next appointment, giving you an out to end the conversation. It's not always easy to think quick on your feet, but make a conscious effort to file this response for the next time you might be ambushed by someone.

It was very unprofessional of her to ask you, even more so in that setting. I hope her coworkers said something to her after you left.

I am not saying this to belittle any MA's on this board. A MA has a high school diploma. This man obviously was charming and fooled many people. Perhaps he paid his employees well and she was just being loyal to her former employer. She may not get what really happened.

Kudos for keeping your mouth shut!

I probably would have stopped her saying this was too close to my heart to talk about

Coming from a background of hatered of anything in the established medical field, believers are hard core. Common sense or the thought to question seems to fly out the window. Any regulation or documentation seems to be considered proof of the AMA or feds harrassment.

I find, as I've gotten older, I have no problem stopping someone in mid-sentence (usually something political they're pontificating about and assuming everyone else agrees) by saying, "Let me stop you, since this isn't something I want to talk about". You are nicer than me.:).

"A MA has a high school diploma."

I dont know what that has to do with anything.

RNmomof2, I have a whole lot more than a high school education (as in I spent way too much time getting degrees I have never put to use) and I have been charmed and fooled by too many to say. I don't quite understand your point.

If she asked you this in front of other people, it could have possibly been a HIPAA violation. Unless she had been involved in your husband's treatment closely, it is a bit tactless to ask as well. Some people though are really just clueless. I am sorry you were subjected to it but kudos for handling it with poise and grace.

Of late, I try my best to feel sorry for people instead of angry. In this case I might be inclined to think she's obviously a deluded and gullible person. Plus, it doesn't sound like she's very professional and may end up with a stunted career.

Lukkiirish, I'm watching CBS's Whistleblower right now and thought I recognized this story.

I understand from a business perspective why you handle it the way you did. I don't know that there was any other way to extricate yourself from that conversation but that was clearly a HIPAA violation if her co workers were in ear shot.

The Whistleblower show is on now in my time zone. The story is shocking, and I am surprised she admitted knowing him at all. It's hard to watch, but maybe it's true that denial is not just a river in Egypt.

Theres no two sides to that story. The Dr. admitted his crimes in court. He was sentenced to 45 years. Theres no nuance there.

Sounds like the woman was trying to obfuscate her own culpability. How petty and small.

I agree, there may be some culpability, and when she saw you in the office and recognized you, she may have trotted out her little version to clear herself.

She put you in a difficult situation by bringing up the issue, just another ripple of harm from the bad choices this Dr. made.

CindyMac, thank you for remembering. I didn’t see the Whistleblower tonight, but I did see another documentary on the Oxygen channel earler this week. He’s pure evil and 45 years doesn’t come close to paying for all the lives he’s ruined (or the people he’s killed. I heard recently that he’s been making new attempts in the courts to get his sentence over turned or something. To say it has a lot of people upset is an understatement. At this point, he’s saver inside than he is out.

Lukki, your story reminded me of a neighbor of ours who is an ophthalmologist. although nowhere near as serious.

When we first moved here we used him as a doctor. But, we found that with two practices, we were handed off to his colleague, so we decided to change doctors.

They needed a larger home and moved to the next town over.

Fast forward, a few years back, his business was a raided for possible Medicare/Medicaid fraud.

Interestingly enough, DH wondered why his practice seemed to have so many elderly patients and not more a mixture since it was a family practice.

I was upset for his wife and three children. The oldest was heading off to medical school.

Given our current national leadership situation, we all have evidence every single day, via media and as we deal with friends, neighbors and loved ones, that people can look at anything and see radically different visions. And regardless of reaching diametrically opposite conclusions about the facts on view, everyone is firmly convinced that they are seeing the real truth!

At this point, he’s saver inside than he is out.

That may not be true. I worked as a psychiatric nurse in a jail for a few years and there is a lot more judgment going on than you would think even though everyone is incarcerated. A lot of those badazz biker types love their mommas and sisters and the Fata particulars are not going to go over well in the Big House.

Yeah. I’ve heard that it can be particularly rough in there, especially a Federal Prison. I’ve also heard more than one of his many male victims say they’d be happy to blow him away if he ever gets out. It’s been 5 years now and I still have trouble wrapping my brain around it all.

Well, how about these priests who rail against sexual sins and then we find out they commit them, or artists for whom we love their art but find out they were horrible people, or teachers or coaches we loved whom we find out also sexually abused someone? Or the pillar of the community who we find out was involved in some type of scam? Or our neighbor who had a secret life with another family in another town, or the Nazi guard who was a loving father, etc., etc. One of the truly disturbing and puzzling aspects of the complex human behavior and personality profile.

Or on the flip side, when you read in the obituary of your childhood bully that he loved gardening and playing with his granddaughters, or read the sad posts from his friends about what a great guy he was and how much they loved him.

Edited to add that some people really are Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde type of people. They only show their Mr. Hyde side when they think they can get away with it. They develop a system, as was described for this doctor, of figuring out who to target. Same with sexual predators . . .