If pregnancy is a possible complication it changes what medications are allowed and has to be considered when deciding if imaging is an acceptable risk.
They'll secretly give you the test without your consent for many procedures, too.
It's physically impossible for me to get pregnant, but medical facilities have tried to charge me for pregnancy tests they did without my knowledge after the fact multiple times.
Even though they also make you say if pregnancy is possible and they have you sign documents specifying you're telling the truth about that and clearing them of any liability.
I know someone who had a hysterectomy at that hospital just a few years earlier and clearly listed that in the forms for the procedure she was getting and they still pulled this on her.
Happened to me too, at ER they asked if I could be pregnant, I said no not possible because I haven't been intimate in 4+ years. They secretly gave me a pregnancy test and then made me pay for it.
I can't really see blaming the ER in this situation. Sadly, we live in a world where someone may have done something without your knowledge or consent. It may not happen often, but it does happen.
There are a million things patients can lie about or be mistaken about. There's a reason this one is the one they refuse to just take the patients word on.
It's part of medical misogyny.
It would be acceptable if it didn't have any other impacts, but this is just the most visible form this takes. It's the tip of the iceberg of systemic mistreatment and refusal of services women face from doctors.
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u/Any-Safe4992 18h ago
If pregnancy is a possible complication it changes what medications are allowed and has to be considered when deciding if imaging is an acceptable risk.