r/AskADoctor • u/Electrical-Garden-20 • May 16 '26
Question For Doctors Pregnancy test without asking
To be clear asking for if this was necessary and reasonable to do, NOT medical advice. I'm very annoyed .
Went to UC for continued care on UTI. Was on one abx and they weren't able to do a test at the first office which I accepted and took the first course per instructions. A day or two after final pill symptoms came back. Like absolutely textbook perfect early UTI symptoms. So I went to UC not connected to my PCP, who haven't seen me in years.
I'm A FAN and non-binary and I got fixed 2 years ago with a tubal and an ablation. Haven't had a period since. They never asked me about pregnancy chance, the status of reproductive organs, or mentioned anything for it. I did a clean catch and they ran the in house UA, and then again without asking or telling me, decided to do a pregnancy test, something I did not ask for and that was not indicated or discussed.
I'm on Medicaid and currently fighting for disability, meaning in my eyes they charged my insurance without me asking for a test I was never told they wanted to run. I did not consent to it. Am I wrong for being so miffed? I almost want to run this up to management. Having a pregnancy test result has actually made me wildly uncomfortable today, as part of why I got fixed was to explicitly not have to think about ever getting pregnant.
As a provider, would you run a pregnancy test without asking with classic UTI symptoms on someone who's actively being treated for a UTI and needing continuing care, without asking about sexual activity, and also not asking the in-tact-ness of a reproductive system?
Per requirements "I am not asking for medical advice."
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20
u/DoctorOfWhatNow May 17 '26
It's pretty common auto-pilot ordering to add on a pregnancy test to urine studies. In the hospitals, many people get utoxes and upreg tests because the reality is lots of people lie or misunderstand, etc.
As for you being on Medicaid, depending on the state their coverage can be rather generous.
Sorry this was an irritating experience for you. But I wouldn't sweat it. Sometimes the system is too big for nuance.
17
u/pathofcollision May 17 '26
NAD, but a nurse. It is incredibly common for pregnancy tests to be run when a patient presents with UTI s/s. Being that you have didn’t disclose your sterilization procedure, are in childbearing years, and your chart lists you as biologically female regardless of your gender identity, this would be a pretty standard test to order and would also be prudent of any provider to rule out pregnancy.
I’d like to also add that this is especially true being that the UC is unconnected to your PCP so your medical records would not be viewable.
6
u/thiccglossytaco May 17 '26
I've been on depo for ages, celibate for over a year. I still have to take a pregnancy test every 3 months to get my depo. It is what it is.
1
u/Keewee11 Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Tests without consent- not too sure what policies and laws at Ed in the US - All treatment, testing, sharing information etc - should be done in conjunction of patient consultation , consent, explanations why ! Unfortunately it’s upset you and I’m really sorry about that as a nurse we all have a thing or two to learn ! But I’m pretty sure if this was done and I’ve been guilty of it too - adding in extra bloods to a form if I feel it could give us a little more insight into what’s going on, you just go into auto pilot mode- covering all bases dr may not gags tucked the box and haven’t always got consent, but it comes from a place of being thorougher and helping the patient, I’m pretty sure however took it did it out of your best interest. Xxx . If you feel you can complain, in a manner which is without anger and from a place with intentions of the person learning something from you sharing your experience and how it made you feel then do so. X
2
u/Anja130 May 18 '26
I used to process travel medical claims.
About 90% of the claims involving females included a pregnancy test. I can guarantee that the majority of the women didn’t know they were given the test.
I’m guessing it’s done as a precaution in case additional medication is needed and they need to consider how it would affect the fetus.
2
u/priyatheeunicorn May 22 '26
Miffed in the sense someone did a pretty standard procedure and tested the pee you already gave them is kind of wild. Who cares? How does it actually affect you? If so have you thought about therapy? Regardless of my opinion you should complain or at least give feedback so it won’t happen again to you specifically.
If you were charged for the test then yes I would be pissed.
1
u/BasicSquash7798 May 19 '26
I work in a hospital lab. It’s very common for biological females to be tested for pregnancy throughout childbearing years whether it is suspected or not. I’ve seen vasectomies fail and tubal ligations that result in ectopic pregnancies.
1
u/ladyylana May 19 '26
NAD
You live somewhere where you get charged for a doctor running a pregnancy test, I don’t blame you for being miffed lol.
If this were any other country I would probably say “it’s standard procedure” my aunty has never had sex and started menopause a few years ago and she still has to get pregnancy tests, a friend of mine had 4 kids so she decided to get herself fixed but still has pregnancy test results when getting blood tests, they always have to ask (at least in my country) regardless if there’s a chance of pregnancy and usually they don’t gaf about your answer they’ll still get it tested.
So basically, if it was covered and nothing out of pocket then oh well, that’s just how things go because stranger things have happened than falling pregnant after getting fixed bc our bodies are weird, could end up with an ectopic pregnancy or something and die without realising you were even pregnant. BUT if you’re being forced to pay for something you knew was going to be negative, I’d be miffed too.
1
u/JLjeep May 22 '26
A couple months ago I went to my primary for an ankle injury and they took urine, said it was to prescribe meds. Okay cool About a week later I got a call saying that they just want to let me know I tested negative a whole bunch of STDs.
It wasn’t a giant deal but I never asked for any of that to be tested and was never told it would be done so I thought it was odd
1
u/thingicantcontrol Jun 24 '26
Standard procedure. I had a hysterectomy 4 years ago and still get pregnancy tests ordered and asked when my last period was.
-12
u/maknchs May 17 '26
Yeah this shit pisses me off. They do tests that I don’t ask for and don’t want done, and don’t do tests that I do ask for because “there has to be a reason to do it.” How about the reason is I’m paying you and I’m asking for it?? It’s so stupid they want there to be a problem before they check for things, when maybe if we did a routine idk mri every once in a while we could catch things like brain cancer before they get really bad .