Posted on 12/29/2006 11:11:17 AM PST by Eurotwit
An American woman has been refused treatment by a doctor in Blekinge in southern Sweden because of her nationality. The woman's husband has now reported the incident to the Medical Responsibility Board.
Valery Johansson, who lives in a small town just outside Nashville, Tennessee, was in Sweden to celebrate Christmas with her husband's family.
On Christmas Day, worried that she may have contracted strep throat, she sought medical help. Her husband and niece made an appointment for her at a clinic in the town of Karlshamn.
"We went up there and the nurses were really nice. They did some swab tests, which they then passed on to a doctor," Johansson told The Local.
But when the American woman, accompanied by her husband and niece, went to meet the doctor in his treatment room, he declined to examine her.
Rather than introduce himself, the doctor waved the patient's papers and shouted "she doesn't have strep throat, she doesn't have strep throat". He then added that he would not treat her.
"He said he didn't like Americans," said Johansson.
He also disliked hearing English spoken in his treatment room and soon walked out.
"We just couldn't believe it. We were left standing there with our mouths hanging open," said Johansson.
According to Johansson, the doctor was a Palestinian who objected to American foreign policy in the Middle East.
Her niece followed the doctor into the office to confront him but was told: "I don't deal with people like that".
When Johansson returned to the clinic the following day she was met by a manager, who apologised and encouraged her to report the matter to the Medical Responsibility Board.
The nurses were also embarrassed by the doctor's behaviour and repaid the 820 kronor that Johansson had handed over in advance for her treatment. They too advised her to report the doctor.
In the report Johansson has claimed that she was discriminated against on ethnic grounds.
Before returning to the United States at the beginning of January she also intends reporting the incident to the American Embassy in Stockholm.
When you leave the US, you takes your chances.
The succinct answer: Yes
Makes me want to visit Sweden.
Hmm...if our Palestinian doctor does this to Americans one wonders what he's doing to Swedes he doesn't like.
The husband should have whipped his ass right then and there.
She had to pay in advance of him seeing her (but the money was refunded), so a better option would be to just make appointments and cancel at the last minute saying you just heard they have a Pali doc that doesn't like Americans
I agree, if this were reversed and the Dr. was an expat in Sweden who turned away a Palestinian there'd be a riot someplace.
Just read the local rag - Blekingeläns tidning. The story has made their web-page, but of course without naming the nationality of the doctor - or even the fact that he isn't Swedish. In the comments section there are already questions about this. "Wonder if he is from Iraq" etc.
I sent a reply but the comments are edited so not much chance of that slipping through.
How much is that is U.S. dollars?
At least she got her 120 bucks back.
I tried a few weeks ago to submit a comment to a story in Expressen.
No, I did not get past the censorship ;-)
Cheers.
Just the Palestinian Swedes who happen to be doctors.
see #53 :-)
In Sweden, whose murder rate is currently twice that of America and where Muslims now constitute over 10% of the population and are disproportionately unemployed and prone to violence, the Swedish press routinely depicts America as crime-ridden.
As for America, the official view was neatly captured in a post-September 11 editorial in the nation's largest newspaper, Aftonbladet, which assured readers that the terrorists who attacked New York and Washington weren't Sweden's enemies but simply hated " U.S. imperialism," a reasonable position given that "the U.S. is the greatest mass murderer of our time." Such views, taught in Sweden's classrooms and enshrined in Sweden's state-approved schoolbooks, are reiterated daily by Sweden's mainstream press organizations, all of which are either government-owned or government-subsidized.
Wrong was I - holiday time so no real censors around. The comment made it in. Now let's see if it will be noted.
Did she have strep throat?
That infection is very contagious and can lead to scarlet fever and rheumatic fever (therefore, to heart damage and fatalities). If she did have strep, the doctor should face serious consequences for his malpractice.
This is a good reminder of how the Jews were treated in the ramp-up to and through WW2 (and throughout history, in some places).
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