[nagdu] Doctor bars guide dog from waiting room - phillyBurbs.com

Thu Aug 11 22:16:59 UTC 2011

This one is a bit silly. Of course people can be on here who don't have dogs. How would people be able to gather information before deciding if they should get a dog. I know, before I got Bogart, the list was a great resource to answer question, be them silly or not, and certainly helped me be prepared for school when I got there.

Sometimes I'm a little amazed at the closed attitudes of folks, be it here or anywhere else for that matter.

Gary

----- Original Message -----
From: d m gina <dmgina at samobile.net>
Date: Thursday, August 11, 2011 1:57 pm
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Doctor bars guide dog from waiting room - phillyBurbs.com
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org

> Hi there,
> Since you don't have a dog and wish not to get one from this 
> message, 
> why are you here on this list?
> I understand the stand you took and yes you did the correct 
> thing, 
> still want to know why you are on the list.
> Is this list now open to anyone who wishes to come?
> If so I understand, if not, then what is going to happen to 
> Rebecca, 
> would she pleased be asked to be removed?
> Thanks,
> 
> Original message:
> > You know, this is part of why I don't have a dog.
> > My daughter had a sore throat that was impacting her ability 
> to eat. It 
> > is called kissing tonsels and she needed to be seen right now.
> > I am glad I didn't have a dog to deal with.
> > It's fine to say "I'll see somebody else" but what do you do 
> when you 
> > or your child needs to see somebody right now.
> > My little girl was so sick and so hungry. It was horrible. She 
> was 
> > hungry but couldn't swallow food and she had a high fever. 
> Truly awful to see.
> > How as a mom (or dad) would you feel if a doctor gave you that crap?
> > My daughter was a toddler at the time. There's no way I could 
> have just 
> > said "Okay sweetie, go on in there and I'll chill out here"
> 
> > Have other parents been in that situation? What have they done 
> about it?
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-
> bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> > Behalf Of Sherry Gomes
> > Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 2:56 PM
> > To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog 
> Users'> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Doctor bars guide dog from waiting 
> room - phillyBurbs.com
> 
> > I had an opposite experience with a doctor of mine once, a 
> very 
> > positive experience.  when I lived in san Diego, I had an 
> orthopedic 
> > surgeon for my joint replacement surgeries.  He was 
> really good and 
> > always seemed happy to see my then golden retriever guide 
> dog.  one 
> > day, before I went to the back office for the appointment, the 
> front 
> > office staff took me aside, and told me privately that the 
> doctor had 
> > terrible dog allergies.  They said he loved dogs and 
> never wanted to 
> > tell me about the allergies, so they never had.  but this 
> particular 
> > day he was having trouble in general.  They asked if I 
> would mind 
> > leaving her with my friend in the waiting room for this one 
> time.  I 
> > didn't mind, actually, and I had my appointment.  The doc 
> asked where 
> > my dog was, and I explained.  He thanked me.  But 
> the next appointment, 
> > my dog went into his office with me, as she always had done 
> before.  It 
> > was only the one time they asked me to let my friend hold her, 
> and they 
> > wouldn't have argued if I'd insisted on taking her in with me.
> 
> > On the other hand, if I went to a doctor's office that refused 
> to see 
> > me or my partner or spouse or child or whatever, cart blanche, 
> because 
> > of my dog, I would find a different doctor and be filing complaints.
> 
> > Sherry
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-
> bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> > Behalf Of cheryl echevarria
> > Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 12:46 PM
> > To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Doctor bars guide dog from waiting room - 
> phillyBurbs.com
> > This was also posted on my guide dog school alumni list.
> 
> > I think it is appalling how this all turned out.
> 
> > Whether there were other patients or not I go to my doctors 
> office 
> > probably more then others, I see at least 4 doctors a few 
> times a year, 
> > and some are smaller than other ones. I only had to put my 
> foot down 
> > once as well, he was from another country, but my doctor 
> recommended 
> > him, and was in the building right next door.
> 
> > The Staff where he worked which was part of Stony Brook 
> University 
> > Hospital Clinics here on Long Island.  They I had a right 
> to be there, 
> > the dog had a right to be there. He said well he can't see me 
> then, I 
> > said fine, I will just go next door to the Head of the 
> Transplant 
> > Department, and tell him he wouldn't see me because I have a 
> guide dog.
> 
> > Let's just say, we found me another doctor in the same office 
> to see 
> > me, and that doctor has moved on.
> 
> > Not much they can do. Yes they do.  They also have to 
> determine if that 
> > is the kind of doctor they want to deal with as well.
> 
> > Leading the Way in Independent Travel!
> 
> > Cheryl Echevarria
> > http://www.echevarriatravel.com<http://www.echevarriatravel.com/>
> > 631-456-5394
> > 
> reservations at echevarriatravel.com<mailto:reservations at echevarriatravel.com>
> > Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel 
> CST-1018299-10
> 
> > Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Absolute Cruise & 
> Travel, Inc.
> >   ----- Original Message -----
> >   From: Ginger Kutsch<mailto:GingerKutsch at yahoo.com>
> >   To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of 
> Guide Dog 
> > Users<mailto:nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> >   Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 1:38 PM
> >   Subject: [nagdu] Doctor bars guide dog from 
> waiting room - phillyBurbs.com
> 
> 
> >   Doctor bars guide dog from waiting room - 
> phillyBurbs.com
> >   
> > 
> http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/breaking_news/doctor-bars-guide-dog-from-waiting-room/article_2bb1009f-5a51-5350-bb2f-6783c4767b5a.html<http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/breaking_news/doctor-bars-guide-dog-from-waiting-room/article_2bb1009f-5a51-5350-bb2f-6783c4767b5a.html>
> 
> >   Doctor bars guide dog from waiting room
> 
> >   By Christian Menno
> 
> >   Staff writer
> 
> >   Thursday, August 11, 2011
> 
> 
> 
> >   ?A guide dog for a visually impaired Bensalem man 
> was kicked out of a 
> > local doctor�s office, but the doctor said she had the right 
> to do so.
> 
> 
> 
> >   But, according to a lawyer and advocate for the 
> disabled, the Lower 
> > Southampton doctor�s actions violated the Americans with 
> Disabilities Act.
> 
> 
> 
> >   �You cannot exclude service animals except in very 
> specific 
> > situations,� said Rocco Iaculla, an attorney with the 
> Disability Rights 
> > Network of Pennsylvania. �Unless the animal is out of control 
> or not 
> > housebroken or someone nearby has a severe allergic reaction, 
> you must 
> > permit them in any area that the public is permitted. It has 
> to be more 
> > than someone feeling uncomfortable with an animal present.�
> 
> 
> 
> >   Dr. Priya Punjabi argues that it is her right to 
> determine who enters 
> > the property and that a large animal could scare or upset her 
> patients.
> 
> 
> >   On Aug. 4, Joseph Cichonski accompanied his wife, 
> who was scheduled 
> > to receive a physical, to Punjabi�s office at 1629 Bridgetown Pike.
> 
> 
> 
> >   As he does whenever he leaves his home, Cichonski, 
> 58, brought his 
> > guide dog Hero, a Labrador-golden retriever mix.
> 
> 
> 
> >   Cichonski said Hero was lying calmly at his feet 
> in the waiting room 
> > and Cichonski�s wife was waiting to be treated in the 
> examination room 
> > when the doctor approached him, saying that pets weren�t 
> allowed in the 
> > office and telling him that he had to wait outside.
> 
> 
> 
> >   �I told her that it�s not a pet, it�s a guide dog, 
> but she still said 
> > I couldn�t have him in there,� Cichonski told the newspaper. 
> �How many 
> > pets do you know that can be declared on your federal income 
> tax forms?�
> 
> 
> 
> >   Cichonski, who said he sees only a little light 
> and shadows, said he 
> > then stepped outside the office because he didn�t want to 
> cause a 
> > scene, but not before informing the staff that he was calling 
> the 
> > police to file a complaint.
> 
> 
> 
> >   �I could have just sat in that chair until the 
> police arrived,� he added.
> 
> 
> 
> >   He said his wife was told she wouldn�t be treated 
> while the dog was 
> > in the office. So she left, too.
> 
> 
> 
> >   Cpl. Michael Wojnar of the Lower Southampton 
> Police Department 
> > arrived and went inside to speak with Punjabi, Cichonski said. 
> He said 
> > the officer was friendly and helpful and told him that a 
> report would be filed.
> 
> 
> 
> >   On Wednesday, Wojnar said that a complaint had 
> indeed been filed. He 
> > added that if the newspaper wants to see the report, a right-
> to-know 
> > request must be completed because the matter is civil, not criminal.
> 
> 
> 
> >   Punjabi told the newspaper that the dog had 
> occupied a large portion 
> > of the floor space in the small waiting room. The room holds 
> just seven 
> > chairs for patients, she said.
> 
> 
> 
> >   While no other patients were there at the time, 
> she said that two 
> > walked into the waiting room just as the situation with 
> Cichonski was 
> > unfolding.
> 
> 
> 
> >   Punjabi said that a Bensalem woman who arrived 
> later that morning to 
> > accompany her 90-year-old mother for an appointment heard the 
> story and 
> > agreed with the doctor�s decision. Punjabi said she asked that 
> woman to 
> > put her feelings in writing and provided the newspaper with a 
> copy of 
> > the letter Tuesday.
> 
> 
> 
> >   The woman, who asked that her name not be 
> published, said that while 
> > she loves dogs and respects all disabled people, she would not 
> have 
> > felt comfortable having the dog in the room with her mother.
> 
> 
> 
> >   �My mother has liquid bones and is very frail,� 
> she added. �I would 
> > have been afraid the dog might have bumped into her, causing 
> even more 
> > injuries.�
> 
> 
> 
> >   Punjabi, who said she is afraid of dogs, added 
> that her request was polite.
> 
> 
> 
> >   �We simply asked him to step outside,� she said. 
> �I have my rights 
> > and my phobias, too.�
> 
> 
> 
> >   Iaculla said that Cichonski handled things 
> correctly by staying calm.
> 
> 
> 
> >   �Unfortunately, there�s not much you can do in a 
> situation like 
> > that,� he added. �I�d recommend contacting an organization 
> (like the 
> > Disability Rights Network). Hopefully, the agency can contact 
> the 
> > doctor�s office and try to get a dialogue going to explain the 
> laws and 
> > how to handle a similar matter in the future.�
> 
> 
> 
> >   Cichonski said Wednesday that he�s exploring his 
> options.
> 
> 
> >   �I�m not trying to cause a fuss,� he added. �I 
> just want to let 
> > people know that things like this are happening and I�d like 
> to prevent 
> > them from happening to other people with disabilities.�
> 
> >   _______________________________________________
> >   nagdu mailing list
> >   nagdu at nfbnet.org<mailto:nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> >   
> > 
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> -- 
> --Dar
> skype: dmgina23
>   FB: dmgina
> www.twitter.com/dmgina
> every saint has a past
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