TORONTO -- The Twitter hashtag PatientsAreNotFaking is trending with people sharing their stories of not being believed after a U.S. health-care worker made a viral video mocking certain patients.
On Tuesday, Twitter user 鈥淒 Rose鈥� tweeted a of her in medical scrubs dancing to the fake cough of a patient, who is also played by her. The caption read: 鈥淲e know when y鈥檃ll are faking.鈥�
Rose, who declined to use her full name or identify where she worked, told CTVNews.ca that she鈥檚 worked in the health-care field for five years. In tweets, she鈥檚 鈥渨orked in mental health, alcohol and drug rehabilitation.鈥�
Her Twitter feed also contains which she says and said she regularly uses humour with her patients to put their minds at ease.
But her recent video, which has garnered 14.5-million views, has brought in waves of criticism accusing her of mocking patients with real medical concerns.
鈥淚 never thought in a million years, that people would see the exaggerated dance moves and think that is something I actually do,鈥� Rose said.
But in the wake of the video, hundreds of people have , with tales of disbelieving doctors, nurses, paramedics.
For example, one woman about waking up in pain, with a fever and covered in sweat. 鈥淭hey sent me home without scans, said it was gastro (intestinal). I [was] readmitted the next day. [it was a] lodged kidney stone, needed a stent and lithotripsy to remove.鈥�
described how it was nearly a decade before she was correctly diagnosed with fibromyalgia because her doctor initially failed to understand her dizzy spells. about how she was falsely labelled a hypochondriac after a car crash. After 15 years in pain, she was correctly diagnosed with 鈥減ermanent and progressive spinal cord injury.鈥�
Another being told to calm down after being in and out of emergency rooms. 鈥淭urns out, it鈥檚 extremely hard to relax when you鈥檙e having your first attack from Multiple Sclerosis,鈥� she said.
that doctors are 鈥渉uman beings who make mistakes and can dismiss the concerns of patients out of ego or pride because we think we know better than you do for your own bodies. It鈥檚 wrong.鈥�
VIDEO 'VERY TRAUMATIC' FOR PEOPLE: DISABILITY ADVOCATE
U.S. blogger and disability rights advocate , who first , told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview she was 鈥渄isturbed at how flippant the video was regarding patient care.鈥�
鈥淪o many black, Indigenous, people of colour, disabled people, trans people, queer people have very difficult experiences at the doctor鈥檚 office with (getting) nurses, medical professionals to believe us about our symptoms and diagnoses,鈥� she said, adding that the video being retweeted so many feeds was 鈥渧ery traumatic for a lot of disabled people.鈥�
鈥淚 created the hashtag so that there could be a place where we could still talk about it but without censoring that video,鈥� Barbarin said.
Barbarin said she鈥檚 disappointed with the medical community when it came to it addressing these long-standing concerns. She stressed Rose鈥檚 video wasn鈥檛 鈥渏ust a joke. People have died because of that mentality.鈥�
Rose told CTVNews.ca she was only mocking people clearly faking their symptoms, so she feels people鈥檚 anger is misplaced.
鈥淔rom what I see, the majority of people that do not like my video have had some sort of bad encounter with a health-care provider,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淪o my video reminded them of a time that they were not given the care that they deserve.鈥�
ADVOCATES SAYS VIDEO MOCKS REAL PATIENTS
But Barbarin said too many times patients are told they鈥檙e faking it or exaggerating symptoms, sent home or dubbed as just drug seekers. She noted that she even saw some nurses agreeing with parts of the video.
鈥淚t is very disconcerting to see so many medical professionals resonating with the video that essentially makes fun of their patients,鈥� she said, adding that 鈥渋t was very disappointing to watch so many people (who have to) essentially beg 鈥� to be taken seriously.鈥�
Barbarin said tactics that she and other people of colour have been forced to use include bringing another person to witness the medical interaction, looking for a medical professional with the same cultural background or asking the doctor to note when patients are refused medication, test or treatment.
But she said the larger issue is doctors needing to leave their egos and defensiveness at the door, particularly when patients are persons of colour or have a disability and feel they鈥檙e not being adequately helped.
Barbarin called on every medical professional or researcher to take a hard look at potential ways that they鈥檙e subconsciously or not perpetuating stereotypes that people don鈥檛 know their own bodies the best.
Echoing these thoughts was CEO and founder of The Centre of Patient Protection Kathleen Finlay, who told CTVNews.ca that doctors not believing patients 鈥渉appens far too often.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to believe this in 2019 but patients are still mocked and blamed by the major players in our health-care system. Whether it鈥檚 doctors, nurses, physiotherapists or pharmacists,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 receive messages from families all the time who are treated with unbelievable disrespect,鈥� Finlay said, adding that these two factors combined 鈥渃an and do have enormous consequences.鈥�
These could be misdiagnoses, needless emotional distress, failure to provide appropriate treatment and even death.
In fact, is a large, , and other in both Canada and the U.S.
Many, including Finlay, have called for repercussions for Rose.
POSTER REFUSES TO DELETE VIDEO
Rose said there will always be patients who fake illnesses but that "from the moment I began nursing school, we were taught that pain and symptoms are subjective and that we are required to treat them regardless of what we may or may not think."
To patients who aren't taken seriously in real life, she told CTVNews.ca: "I am sorry that you are not receiving the care that you deserve. Be sure to always be your biggest supporter and advocate. If one person is not treating you correctly, demand another and don't stop until you feel satisfied in the care you received."
And she also in a series of tweets saying, 鈥淭he FACT is my video had nothing to do with race, mocking panic attacks, or anything else I鈥檝e been accused of.鈥�
鈥淚 also know myself. I know how much I love my job. I know how much I care for the people I come across. And I know the positive difference I make,鈥� she . 鈥淸Patients] come to me at what may be their worst times in their life, and my first reaction is to always figure out how I can make them smile.鈥�
Rose said she鈥檚 received death threats, calls for her to lose her job, as well as racist and sexist attacks.
But , she refused to take down her video, writing: 鈥淚 absolutely will not be bullied into apologizing or deleting a video because some people disagree with me.鈥�
