Firing My Doctor
Doctors are our employees, not our masters. It's time to remind them of that.
Your mask policy prioritizes politics over health
Those enforcing the policy do not abide by it
You are endangering lives by dispensing false information
You obviously cannot be trusted to do your one job: competently care for patients
Peace out
The following (partially redacted to remove the business’s name) is the letter I sent to my doctor’s office nine months ago. No response was ever received.
Dear friends of [doctor’s office]:
I would like to take a moment to explain why I no longer patronize your practice. I don't expect that anyone actually cares that I've left, let alone why, but I would be remiss if I did not at least state my reasons for leaving.
NOTE: For the purpose of clarification, any reference to "you" refers exclusively to those making and/or enforcing medically-absurd policies. Everyone else gets a pass.
In short, I took my business elsewhere because your mask policy reveals that [doctor’s office] places a higher priority on partisan politics than it does on the health of its patients.
Masks not only fail to stop the spread of COVID-19, they also negatively impact the health of those wearing them. The failures of mask mandates to curb viral spread are now well-established and clearly observable, and the research into their efficacy1 has only served to strip them of any claim to medical validity.
Either you know this information and are choosing to disregard it, or you are more focused on the latest political trends than you are on the latest medical research. I'm not sure which is worse, but either way it's clear that [doctor’s office] cannot be trusted to do the one job for which it ostensibly exists -- serve the healthcare needs of its patients.
Even while many other businesses refuse to violate their customers' intelligence and consent by enforcing these useless mandates, you evidently feel that it is your place to do just that. On my last visit, I was denied medical services due to my refusal to wear a mask. Never mind that the mask is useless, that the staff cannot justify the policy, and that I had respiratory conditions qualifying for government exemption. Obedience was required; rationale be damned.
Mind you, this is the same establishment at which I've consistently observed various staff wearing their masks with no regard for "correct" procedure. Their indifference doesn't matter as far as disease prevention is concerned since the masks are completely ineffective, but it does demonstrate that even those enforcing these absurd rules don't believe in them. It's all kabuki, and everyone knows it. Nevertheless, you demand that your patients participate in the charade all the same.
Worse still, you allow the ignorant and gullible to believe that strapping an ill-fitting piece of paper over their mouths will protect them from a dangerous virus, which it will not. This is no less callous than leading someone to believe that, in a pinch, a bedsheet will suffice as a makeshift parachute.
Giving people a false sense of security increases the likelihood that they will take unnecessary risks that could end catastrophically; an outcome that could have been avoided had they simply been told the truth. But as with so many other political matters, truth must be suppressed when it does not advance the agenda.
So because you are evidently committed to perpetuating a lie at the expense of your patients' health, I would be a fool to trust you with mine. It's a shame, too, because the overwhelming majority of the staff is very friendly. Some of them have even laughed at my jokes, which reveals an uncommon degree of generosity. I will miss seeing them. And having people laugh at my jokes.
If anyone would care to discuss this matter, I would gladly make the time to do so. Thank you for your time and past service. Now go forth and do better.
Sincerely,
Timothy Stephens