Ableist, sexist, disturbing statements made
Oh boy, where do we begin with McFarlane Dental of Austin, Texas? My parents have paid thousands of dollars to this clinic. Dr. McFarlane is a youth pastor and a very personable gentleman I met in either 2018/19. So you can imagine my surprise with how I was mistreated today, and subsequently advised by a lawyer I met in the street to file an HIPAA complaint that my brain said, "Excuse me?" Which I did today. YEAH. My first ever HIPAA complaint ever. Because there is some bizarro secret file on me at McFarlane Dental, yep like Area 51, and they won't tell me beyond it says "you are difficult." Then the woman started screaming at me because I said I have legal rights to know why it says so even if false, that this was proof I am "difficult." My gosh, misogynistic speech much? How many women have publicly and privately been called "difficult" in healthcare and career life for decades for saying something is not OK? Long story, and my recollection of this is so unbelievable, you think I got this off SNL but it isn't funny in reality. I was waiting for my mom way back when she had a long emergency dental appointment, when I had some slight nausea from diabetes which I, a lower end of healthy BMI, control well through diet, water, etc. This was nobody's business. I quietly sat there minding my own business watching the movies on my iPad mini I carry in my purse. I happened to be in town in Austin and felt my mom needed emotional support. Others were waiting for their family members just fine. Me? Well, the mean desk lady told me to go get food across the street "because you LOOK HUNGRY." She told me to grab a coffee and a roast beef sandwich. ACROSS THE HIGHWAY, MOPAC. I told her I don't drive. She said WALK. Across the freaking highway. I said no, I'm fine, thanks. She every ten minutes tried to kick me out because my presence of quietly having fun watching my DC Comics movies apparently bothered her. So I finally said how I don't drink coffee and I don't eat meat, I'm into vegan food. She kept telling me to leave. I didn't say anything. Yet. Then my iPad lost battery. Dr. McFarlane, who is a sweetheart, told the lady I could charge my iPad in the wall. Five minutes after he left, she broke my iPad cord-plug set (it's cracked!) and started mocking me. That cord to this day is still super loose and I use it for emergencies. I told her to please plug it back in. She began flopping the half broken plug back in and out saying "Whose iPad is this!?" laughing when she knew, then threw my iPad mini across the floor. I cried quietly from stress of that and worries of my mom's health, and complained to a female dentist who has since left. Dr. McFarlane told me to plug it back and nicely made her aware to leave it alone. The desk lady was nice in front of him. The rude female dentist accused me of 1) lying and 2) being "autistic." Um, what? Autism would mean I lack the social signs to notice the woman kept trying to kick me out of the waiting room to eat a beef sandwich when I'm vegan, and to have not noticed she was mean. SECONDLY, what the heck is that ableism!??! So today, 2025, I find out when I insisted I know beforehand if in addition to Invisalign and veneers which he said he'd do on me back in 2018, knowing if Dr. McFarlane would agree to help me remove my tori in stages (not full sedation) that are interfering with my ability to eat crispy foods? Well, I find out there's a creepy, sexist file on me either written by that female dentist OR the mean desk lady labelling me "difficult" and not to service me or my mom. Um, yeah, maybe if your employee violently destroys an expensive Apple plug and hurls my iPad after harassing me to leave the office behind the owner's back, I think I'd be difficult. Then to hear that ableist filth from the female dentist who seems to love claiming anyone rightfully noticing mistreatment must be "autistic." Even if I were an autistic five year old, does it excuse your desk lady to have flung the allegedly autistic person's expensive tech belongings, make fun of me, and try to kick me out just because I wanted to wait hours as I was concerned about my mom? But wait! No, they won't let me know what's in my file, which the lawyer told me is against the law! So I don't know why I am "difficult" or not. Funny, they made sure not to tell my dad when he has repeatedly been over for composite dental work and dropping money like a rap video. If you want to hear sexist, ableist speech tossed around by....women who should support women? Well, this is the clinic for you. Dr. McFarlane's staff is evil. I used to volunteer to help disabled children when I was in Illinois, and this downright made me cry again today. I hope to find out via my HIPAA ticket # what sexist and, I expect, falsely ableist nonsense is in my file they won't share other than my dental goals. THE MOST DISGUSTING HUMAN BEINGS EVER!
By Sally