A doctor in Gainesville, Fla., was recorded on camera yelling at a patient who was complaining of long wait times. He said in a statement Wednesday that the woman had been threatening the office staff with violence. (iStock)
A doctor in Florida, recorded on video yelling at a patient in the waiting room, released a statement on the incident on Wednesday.
Dr. Peter Gallogly was recorded on video yelling at a woman who complained of long wait times in the Gainesville After Hours Clinic while she was “severely sick” and “throwing up in the trash can.”
The patient, Jessica Stipe, who posted the video on Monday, said she was looking for a refund when the doctor came out and started screaming and cursing at her, according to her Facebook post. She said Gallogly also grabbed her daughter’s phone, who was recording the incident, and pushed her when she tried to get the phone back.
But Gallogly claimed the video was “heavily edited and taken out of context,” in a statement obtained by CBS 4 Gainesville.
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“Ms. Stipe had been increasingly belligerent and abusive to the office staff, cursing and threatening them with violence, because she was unwell and had been waiting to see me for more than an hour,” Gallogly wrote. “I went to the front desk only because after Ms. Stipe received her refund, she refused to leave the office, and continued her abusive behavior towards staff.”
When he went to the waiting room, Gallogly said the two women “cursed and threatened him,” after which he “lost his temper” and spoke to them “unprofessionally.”
“While not an excuse for my behavior, a basic reason for my reaction is that I simply regard my staff as family, and I over-reacted to defend them,” he said.
In the video, the patient can be heard saying that the office should advise patients that they might not be seen in a timely manner, to which the doctor responded by saying that she had been seen and he had collected a urine sample.
When Stipe said she wanted to go home instead of being seen, the doctor replied, “Then fine, get the hell out! Get your money and get the hell out.”
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The pair continue to argue before the doctor yelled, "Get the f--- out of my office!," and opened the door for the mother and daughter to leave. When the doctor realized he was being recorded, he appeared to grab the girl’s phone out of her hand and walk away with it.
Stipe said she believes the doctor tried to delete the video before giving the phone back, CBS 4 Gainesville reported.
Stipe reportedly called the police after the incident but according to a police report, the responding officer didn’t see anything to indicate that Gallogly had pushed the daughter.
Regarding the doctor’s statements, Stipe said they were “absolutely not true.” She asked why he’d taken the cell phone and tried to delete the video if he hadn’t done anything wrong, CBS 4 Gainesville reported.
Stipe said she has spoken to an attorney because Gallogly needed to be held responsible.
"I don't want anybody else in my community or any other community to receive that type of care or behavior towards them,” she said.
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