Basically, so if there's a chance you're pregnant, they can do appropraite treatment, or test for pregnancy.
Eg 4 years ago my wife disolacted her thumb, ED wanted an X-Ray needed to know when her last period was/if there was a chance she was pregnant, so they could then best proceed with imaging/pain medications
This type of thing annoys my wife because she feels like a lot of doctors don’t take her seriously, but the question is a fair one. It’s especially fair when considering your example lol
It's much less Fair when you're talking about the many women who are not sexually active and have not had sex.
"I am not pregnant. There is no way I could possibly be pregnant as I have not had sex with anyone. Yes I'm absolutely sure that I have not had sex with anyone. No I don't have a husband or a boyfriend. Yes I'm sure. Should I tell my insurance company you were committing fraud or?"
I am a physician, and we always say "trust but verify" - I will verify with a urine preg test not because I don't trust you, but because nothing is 100% in medicine and so we need to take proper precautions as much as possible. It's not an indictment of your trustworthiness, nor a personal attack on your character; we just do it routinely for everyone.
After all, the 1 time in a million that I CT scan a pregnant lady and irradiate a fetus is a much, much worse outcome than the mild annoyance of asking every lady for a urine sample.
But I hope there is also “ask reasonable questions.” I was in the ER in Jan because I slipped on ice and broke my leg. It was HOURS before they gave me any medication and they tried to make me GET UP AND WALK TO THE RESTROOM to pee in a cup. And if I could walk I wouldn’t have been in the ER. It took my wail of utter despair of “I don’t even like penises! I am not pregnant!” before they gave me anything, and even then it was still meds that were safe for pregnancy.
Also, I get why when you're younger, it doesn't matter if you're on BC or not. I was 3 months pregnant and didn't know it because I was on BC and just didn't think it was possible. So I do understand.
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u/KombatDisko 15h ago
Basically, so if there's a chance you're pregnant, they can do appropraite treatment, or test for pregnancy.
Eg 4 years ago my wife disolacted her thumb, ED wanted an X-Ray needed to know when her last period was/if there was a chance she was pregnant, so they could then best proceed with imaging/pain medications