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My doctor will not sign the letter, says she is too busy.   My fear is I will not be able to cruise again.   I am 73, healthy, no medications, walk 3 to 4 miles a day, five days a week.  What will healthy over 70 year olds do if they cannot get this letter signed.   Wouldn't taking the temperature be enough?

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15 hours ago, PattiHere said:

My doctor will not sign the letter, says she is too busy.

Wow, that's insulting (to you).

15 hours ago, PattiHere said:

What will healthy over 70 year olds do if they cannot get this letter signed.   Wouldn't taking the temperature be enough?

The answer to your question is, no, the temperature is not enough.

The reason RC is prohibiting people over 70 from cruising (temporarily) is because people in that age range are far more susceptible to coronavirus and it is far more deadly in that age range.

Once the coronavirus threat lessens, I fully expect this rule to be rescinded.

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Do we even know if they'll require a letter once this all blows over?  And yeah, physicians and clinics are REALLY busy right now, I don't know that transferring to another doctor is the solution.  Many are canceling appointments and even surgeries for elective procedures, so providing a letter for something like this is going to fall off the "we can do this" list.  It may seem cold, and her response may have seemed cold, but try to imagine what they are going through right now as well.  

Services are not what they were last week.  Most police in our area are not responding on anything but high priority calls as they would last week.  If you need anything else, it'll be a phone call.  We're in uncharted territory here.

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2 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Do we even know if they'll require a letter once this all blows over?  And yeah, physicians and clinics are REALLY busy right now,

Didn't say she had to transfer....just to ask them to get her records ready to transfer.....since scheduling an in-person visit and getting the form signed would be significantly lower effort and even have a copay associated with it....there might be a sudden change of heart by the doctor and/or staff fronting.

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20 hours ago, PattiHere said:

My doctor will not sign the letter, says she is too busy.   My fear is I will not be able to cruise again.   I am 73, healthy, no medications, walk 3 to 4 miles a day, five days a week.  What will healthy over 70 year olds do if they cannot get this letter signed.   Wouldn't taking the temperature be enough?

Hate to bring up the "the Elephant in the room", but if MY doctor won't sign a letter for me stating that I am healthy, THAT alone will make me question as to "am I REALLY healthy" and make me get checked with another physician. That would be the first thing that pops into my head.

Remodel Contractors Unfinished Room

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26 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

Hate to bring up the "the Elephant in the room", but if MY doctor won't sign a letter for me stating that I am healthy, THAT alone will make me question as to "am I REALLY healthy" and make me get checked with another physician. That would be the first thing that pops into my head.

Remodel Contractors Unfinished Room

This is precisely why this "healthy enough to cruise" process is a fool's errand.

In my line of work (Safety Engineer), there is no such thing as a "safe" system.  You can evaluate the system for risks, identify them, mediate them, redesign, evaluate, mediate and on and on but you never, ever, ever (if you want to keep your credentials) pronounce a system is safe.  There's no such thing b/c no matter how automated it is, systems have to be operated and maintained by people....and people will make mistakes and use poor judgement.

So most HCPs will never sign a document saying that it is safe for their patient to do ANYthing.

If the cruise industry is trying to pare down its cruising population then this is a great way to do that.  Even then they are going to find that even young people get sick or have accidents !  I really, really hate this kind of knee jerk reaction that implemented such a ridiculous policy that is destined for failure.  This was a perfect example of overreaction in a crisis leading to very BAD policies.  Well-intended though it may have been, it is utter nonsense.

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Those in the medical field lean toward "worst case scenario" at all times. Its how they are taught, trained, and practice. Partly to rule out the worst, first....and partly to avoid malpractice.  THAT being said...youre going to be hard pressed to get a doctor to sign a waiver of ANY sort....ever.  Some will...but most wont. This waiver is a HORRIBLE idea, and I dont see it lasting. 

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4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This is precisely why this "healthy enough to cruise" process is a fool's errand.

In my line of work (Safety Engineer), there is no such thing as a "safe" system.  You can evaluate the system for risks, identify them, mediate them, redesign, evaluate, mediate and on and on but you never, ever, ever (if you want to keep your credentials) pronounce a system is safe.  There's no such thing b/c no matter how automated it is, systems have to be operated and maintained by people....and people will make mistakes and use poor judgement.

So most HCPs will never sign a document saying that it is safe for their patient to do ANYthing.

If the cruise industry is trying to pare down its cruising population then this is a great way to do that.  Even then they are going to find that even young people get sick or have accidents !  I really, really hate this kind of knee jerk reaction that implemented such a ridiculous policy that is destined for failure.  This was a perfect example of overreaction in a crisis leading to very BAD policies.  Well-intended though it may have been, it is utter nonsense.

Is it difficult as a safety professional to “look the other way” when your on vacation? I’ve witnessed one OSHA nightmare after another on these ships. They need to maybe review some human performance training.....

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31 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Is it difficult as a safety professional to “look the other way” when your on vacation? I’ve witnessed one OSHA nightmare after another on these ships. They need to maybe review some human performance training.....

Yes it is.  I’ve seen some pretty sketchy stuff over the years.  I just look the other way and keep on moving.

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I do not see a doctor signing any such form without performing a complete exam of you just before signing/or not - she/he may want their own lawyer to read over the form as well (I would think most lawyers would tell the doctor not to sign). 

So if after, whenever that is, we get past this crisis will the cruise lines still require  the form for over age 69 passengers?  

 

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38 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

My son has to take an athletic physical every year to play High School soccer. . . Doctors DO sign patient waiver as such.

 

Yes, the form that my son needs filled out by the doctor for boy scout camp every year is much more involved then the form the cruise line was asking for:

 

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/HealthSafety/pdf/680-001_ABC.pdf

 

 

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Oh crap. I turn 70 in July.  Another dam form to fill out. Just put it on the stack.  We just moved and so many forms to fill out. I`ll just get an on line Dr. degree and sign the form.  I will use the name Dr. WHO.  Wise Health Official.  No worse than some of the other fake news out there. I will have to work on sloppy penmanship to make it look official. Bon Voyage 

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On 3/18/2020 at 12:03 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Re: elective surgeries....I feel so lucky to have gotten this knee replacement when I did.  The surgeons that did this knee are now postponing all such surgeries.  We have just been ahead of this awful wave in so many ways...I feel so blessed.

So for you it isn`t about washee washee. It is all about WALKIE WALKIE.  Get well. 

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On 3/17/2020 at 9:52 PM, PattiHere said:

My doctor will not sign the letter, says she is too busy.   My fear is I will not be able to cruise again.   I am 73, healthy, no medications, walk 3 to 4 miles a day, five days a week.  What will healthy over 70 year olds do if they cannot get this letter signed.   Wouldn't taking the temperature be enough?

My doctor refused to sign my letter, not because I wasn’t fit to travel or had any chronic illness but because the government had issued guidance to 70’s an overs not to travel at this time. Hopefully once we get over the current Covid-19 crisis things will return to normal again. Here’s hoping anyway, otherwise it looks like I won’t be cruising again.

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Please be kind to doctors during all of this....and all medical staff.  Even if it’s not in the middle of the outbreak where you are healthcare facilities are very busy even preparing for this behind the scenes.  Much of this is unknown chartered territory as far as healthcare and everyone is trying to see where the dust settles.  There’s a lot of legal issues coming into play here as well that needs to be sorted out as far as work and travel restrictions as well.  Unfortunately legal plays into writing letters for everything now.  Writing a quick letter is not a quick think for physicians to do- it does take time- and EVERYONE is requesting letters for pretty much everything right now.  I’m sorry if the response from your doctor was not as eloquent.

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