So I visited the doctor a few weeks ago for a checkup, a new doctor that I had not been to before but is a friend of a friend.
He sat in front of his computer and pulled up all the information on me from some central database, told me my medical history and even some of my family medical history, then asked me some questions while entering this data, then he asked me if I used "street drugs."

I got VERY upset and I'm still upset and asked him if he ever heard of doctor patient confidentiality and if he intended on entering my statement that I admit to doing illegal activities into a central database.

He waived off my question and just said most people wouldn't admit it either and went on to other things. Out of respect I let it go at that because I know he was so busy and I realize he is not required to answer my questions either....but WTF????

So that's the way it is now! I think that any doctor who would ask this question with the intent to enter the answer as data should seriously consider not being a doctor. They are breaching patient confidentiality which was supposed to be a prime directive....or so I thought.
I sometimes see this doctor at parties that some friends hold. I'm considering talking to him about it if I see him outside his office, but I don't know if I will as that might be considered really rude. I'd love to hear more from doctors what they would say in defense of that though!

I dont see how hes doing anything wrong, or why you would get upset.
They arent the police.Nothing to fear.
Your health records have your health information in them, and they arent just floating in the ether, they are on paper and hard drives.
Street drugs can be very relevant to your health...if you are taking them.

Also, if you are worried about anyone seeing that information, they have to sign into the system, and all of those sign ins are monitored. And people do get fired very fast for accessing someone's health records without authorization.
I know this because my girlfriend does the monitoring for a living.=)

Im no doctor but I think you are misinterpreting what Patient-Doctor confidentiality means. They can clearly ask you and keep that on files because it can be relevant to diagnosis of different conditions. The breach isnt in asking and keeping in a file for their own use, the breach would be if they would share this info with other unrelated people.

I am unclear. Is your issue with the actual question being asked or with the fact that the Dr. is entering the information into an online database?

Asking patients if they use street drugs (and, depending on the answer, the appropriate questions re type/frequency/ROA) can often be very relevant to making a full evaluation of a patient.Some patients will flat-out deny it when its clear (to the trained eye ) that they do but if one can establish a rapport with the patient the info is usually forthcoming.And can lead to some interesting chats!!

My personal policy is to ask if they want their usage documenting and if they say no, then I will not commit the info to the notes, but tell them I appreciate their frankness as it aids me to help them.If they say they dont mind I remind them that should their history of use be documented than this may have implications later down the line for example if they apply for life insurance.The insurers seek a report from the doctor and a consistently found section asks about tobacco/alcohol/'drug' use (theyre all bloody drugs aren't they?).

If their drug-taking history is documented then the doctor completing the report would be obliged to mention it in response to the question relating to it.More often than not, the patient will then decide on not having this part of their social history documented.Interestingly, IME, this openness on my part, plus informing of this hazard re insurers, seems to improve my relationship with the patient.

This is my approach and has served me well.I think the majority of doctors would get a denial of use from the patient which prevents the doctor from getting all the info they need to really assess the patient fully.

I've had positive and negative experiences with this question. One guy asked me how much i would "need" to take and could not get behind the concept of non-addictive drugs...

Then, another guy asked me if i'd smoke weed and i laughed it off because i found the question kinda funny and he was "Yeah, it's ok if done in moderation ". That was pretty cool.

(it was a neurologist)

Doctor-Patient confidentiality isn't something you should take at face value. I had a test at the Doctors last year & before I went to the Drs to pick up the result (I did leave this a while as the problem resolved itself) I got a call from the Environmental Health dept of my local authority. They were calling as they'd got a copy of the result of the test as it'd shown a certain form of food poisoning & they wanted to identify the source.

I was furious as I'd always assumed any interactions with a Dr - and especially the results of any tests - would be confidential.

Apparently, in the UK at least, Drs & health authorities are legally required to pass on certain bits of info to some parts of local & central government. I doubt if this extends to illegal drug use, & I don't know what the rules are where you live but I'd definitely establish with the doctor exactly what they're intending (& are required) to do with any info I give them, what systems its included in & who has access to it.

^^I doubt very much that your doctor would have informed the Environmental Health people directly; the info would have been notified by the lab processing the sample directly on to them and this only covers certain infectious diseases which can have implications for public health.This covers a range of infectious conditions only as determining the source has significant implications for public health.

I get upset for several reasons....
If the doctor is entering information into a database that insurance companies can access, then this can have serious consequences if you ever need things like a kidney transplant at some point in the future ( you will be denied,), or if the insurance companies can access this information they can refuse you coverage.
And what are street drugs anyway? Am I going to be considered to have a "drug problem" if I use cannabis which is far safer than alcohol? DMT enhances my life, and if I were to tell them I use DMT they would probably have a shit fit and be hesitant to offer me any other drugs I might like like sleeping pills.
I think posing the question "do you you street drugs is just plain wrong!" If they asked if I used any drugs that I consider problematic to my health, I would have no problem with them asking that. There is a HUGE difference I think.

I think they are. I think they are entering my answer into a database that can be accessed by other persons. This was a new doctor and he accessed the database my old doctor had added information into....so they are in fact sharing information without my consent.

Your approach sounds at least more open, but it still makes the BIG assumptions when using the terms "street drugs" and what they are and if they are in fact bad for you. Again, I say cannabis and psychedlics can be very nice and healthy materials to use, and of far less concern than legal alcohol and tobacco, but "street drugs" could also be heroin or speed.

One doctor wanted me to fill out the answer to yes or no if I use "street drugs" on a paper form and sign it, and the next was ready to enter my answer into a database. I just think it sucks and anyone who participates in a forum on "Coalition for Entheogenic Liberty" should also be appalled at this practice.

Ask me if I take any drugs that I feel may cause harm to my well being....thats fine, but ask me if I take illegal street drugs and sign here???? No eff'n way!!
Personally, I have very little respect for any doctor who is so lazy or closed minded to even use the term "street drugs" rather than posing the question in a more useful and thoughtful way.

I had a doctor 2 months ago try to tell me I probably dont know as much as I think I know when I told him I get a lot out of my ayahuasca drinking.."oh do you?" was his response..he then informed me that I should maybe make a list of all of my friends anmd family and ask each of them how they feel about my use of drugs...

He also tried to get me to tell him where I get my ayahuasca from..of course I did not tell him anything.

I was tripping freaking hard and just wanted the guy to take my blood pressure. He even called poison controll becasue he did not believe me that ayahuasca was non-toxic and not addictive and that I was okay but wanted him to check my bp..after he called poison contoll (and they told him it was non toxic I gues) he just tried to act like some kind of AAA therapist or something. To be honest the guy was a class 1 assh*ole and I would never ever go to that doctor again if my life depended on it.

I feel like the guy took advantage of me when I was in a seriously altered state, trying to get information about how people obtain ayahuasca so he could file it on some list..he tried to tell I could have poisened myself basically(even after he called poison control) becasue all I knew was an approximation of how many mg of DMT I took and then he tried to tell me I had some drug problem becasue I use psychedelics and that I should pay more attention to what others think about my drug use than what I KNOW I get out of it..

He then proceeded to tell me horror stories about people who have permanent anxiety and flashbacks etc from psychedelics..

And all I did was calmly ask him to check my god damn blood pressure.

This is the same overweight fat guy who laughed at me for wanting to eat a healthy vegan diet though..so go figure.

I guess all we can say from this is that doctors are people too and most are not at all educated about entheogens. Most probably even consider cannabis to be a health problem, and I know I will NEVER tell any medical doctor about any of the wonderful healing medicines I enjoy unless I meet the extremely rare physician who asks the right way....but then such a physician would know that there is no need to ask about use of non-dangerous substances and would understand the difference.
Anyway, if I ever did aquire a serious illness such as cancer I would probably attempt to work with the healing medicines and techniques that a shaman offers rather than die plugged in and poisoned chemically and radiationaly by some of these practices offered by modern medicine robot physicians.

This made me upset. Sorry you had to deal with that man.

If it helps, while in NYC I noticed some CVS stores have DIY BP machines. It's in the corner of the pharmacy waiting lounge, and I thought it was neat. Anyone can walk up to it at any time without speaking to anyone and measure their BP and a couple other figures.

I haven't seen them in my state but check the newer pharmacies maybe?