Are physicians entitled to human rights?

I have an extreme sensitivity to perfumes, as there are specific types of perfumes that ruin my entire day if I’m exposed to them. If I enter the room with a patient who is wearing one of those perfumes that I’m allergic to, I immediately start coughing uncontrollably within seconds, accompanied by difficulty breathing, which in the past has required me to use an inhaler. All of this doesn’t kill my day, but what hurts me more, to the point where I sometimes have to stop working and cancel all appointments, is the migraine accompanied by light sensitivity and vomiting, this headache doesn’t respond to casual medications like Tylenol or Advil.Sometimes I fear some names that I see on my daily schedule when I remember that they are associated with perfumes, even though the staff always emphasize the importance of not wearing perfumes during their visits to our clinic—on top of the signs placed inside and outside the clinic.Some patients forget what they’re told about our policy of not wearing perfumes and some claim they forgot. Read: Dr. Jabir Jassam: Between Hana and Mana, our income has goneWhat’s frustrating is that some patients don’t care about the harm they cause me and argue with the staff about this issue, which I believe is one of my simplest rights that seem to have disappeared amidst what’s called freedom and human rights and apparently some patients don’t see me as one of them, perhaps because they think doctors have no rights, although that’s not far from reality.Sarah (all names changed) told me explicitly, if the clinic doesn’t change its policy and allow her to wear perfumes, she would find another doctor. The discussion ended with me encouraging her to find another doctor for herself and her family—and she did.Jennifer, in her fifties, is a heavy smoker and suffers from multiple chronic illnesses and repeatedly wears perfumes—although she has been warned many times in every way possible. One day, Jennifer came for her appointment, and I could tell she was heavily scented from metres away. The staff asked her to wash her hands, which she did, they then transferred her to another room hoping this would minimize the impact on me as they’ve been with me for many years and have witnessed my suffering and continuous struggles with perfumes.The staff warned me about her, and I wore a mask and entered the room, but was greeted with a strong wave of perfume, one of those that contributed to ruining my day, and I then immediately fled back to my office. When the perfume attacked me, it brought along a coughing fit. I escaped quickly before it overwhelmed me and brought on the headache that I fear so much. I can endure all kinds of pain except headache.I entered my office, closed the door, turned off the lights and started coughing for at least five minutes. I asked the staff to inform Jennifer not to leave the room and that I would like to talk to her over the phone instead of wasting her appointment. But they couldn’t find her; she had left through the clinic’s back door.I thought she would feel remorse and guilt for causing me harm that could have easily been avoided if she had followed the clinic’s policy which I believe is a common policy for all clinics and hospitals in the world that claim to be the developed world. I told the staff to call her and inform her that I wanted to talk to her about her visit and discuss her blood tests, for which we initially scheduled the appointment.Jennifer shocked the staff with her rude and harsh manner after she told them that the doctor was unprofessional and behaved improperly by leaving the room without speaking to her. The staff responded, “Didn’t you hear his coughing fit that continued for a long time after he left the room?” “Why didn’t you inform me that he’s sensitive to perfumes?” Jennifer retorted.“We believe you are aware of that, and we’ve informed you by email, which is in your chart, and it’s also obvious that no patient should wear perfume when visiting any clinic.” The staff added: “Nevertheless, he wants to talk to you about your tests.” “Tell the doctor that I don’t want him to call me again and inform him that what he did was a lack of respect for my rights, and I won’t stay silent; I will file a complaint against him.”The threat didn’t bother me because I’ve heard it before from many patients, so I’ve built up a permanent immunity. But what bothers me is that nobody cares about our situation, and we have to be present and ready to help those who harm us. I asked myself, do patients somehow think we have no rights and that human rights don’t apply to us?I chose to speak out about what happened here not because I have no solution, as I’ve found the appropriate solution (leave the room), but because I know it’s a temporary one as what happened wasn’t the first time and won’t be the last. Jennifer is gone but there are a hundred other Jennifers who think we have no right to protect ourselves and say no, and they believe even if they harm us we still have to be available to help them.The question of whether doctors are entitled to human rights wasn’t sparked solely by the perfume incident, but rather by numerous past incidents involving myself and other colleagues, each for various reasons.Thank you for reading, with warmest regards.I write, therefore I exist, I exist because I write.Dr. Jabir Jassam is a family physician in Ottawa.

Are physicians entitled to human rights?

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