Lindsey Levinson

I am a 51-year-old autistic and disabled patient, and what happened to me at Duke Primary Care on Leesville Road on August 2nd was traumatic, discriminatory, and medically harmful. I am documenting this so other patients — especially disabled patients — understand the risks of seeking care here. 1. Lab Worker Misconduct and Refusal of Care I arrived for a scheduled blood draw at 8:35 a.m. and waited nearly ten minutes with no communication. When I knocked on the lab door, I found the lab worker FaceTiming someone while on the clock. She admitted she was on a personal call. When I asked why she was on FaceTime instead of performing my blood draw, she told me I would not be getting my blood drawn and instructed me to leave the building. As an autistic patient, sudden rule changes and hostility are destabilizing and discriminatory. I felt dismissed, violated, and completely unprotected. 2. Improper Blood Draw by Untrained Staff Two non-lab employees were then sent to draw my blood. They… were not trained for this procedure. They did not collect the correct vials or the correct number of vials required for my pre-operative testing. This improper blood draw caused physical injury. My arm was left bruised, swollen, and visibly damaged. I will have to walk around with my arm looking like this for over a week. 3. Physician Assistant’s Reprimand Call Later that evening, the physician assistant called me. She did not ask how I was, did not check on my condition, and did not acknowledge the trauma of the morning. Instead, she attempted to reprimand me. I shut this down because I had done nothing wrong. During the call, she told me that my surgical clearance paperwork for two medically necessary surgeries was completed and would be faxed the next morning (July 31st). I have this call recorded. 4. Retaliatory Delay of My Surgical Clearance After making multiple calls, I learned that she did not send the paperwork on July 31st. She waited five business days before faxing it. This delay has now pushed my surgeries back two business weeks, not one. Given the attempted reprimand, the lab incident, and her knowledge that I was filing a complaint, this delay appears retaliatory and caused direct harm to my medical care. 5. Disability Discrimination and Violation of Patient Rights As an autistic patient, I felt: discriminated against dismissed talked down to retaliated against physically harmed emotionally destabilized denied equal treatment denied safe care My disability was not considered at any point, and my patient rights were ignored.