Patient threatens to 'pull out doctor's hair' after she missed appointment

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
A Clalit Health Services clinic in Herzliya (a counseling clinic in the southern part of town) will shut down between 8 a.m. and noon Monday after a female doctor was attacked by a patient on Friday. The patient, who was 90 minutes late for her non-urgent appointment because she went shopping, tried to force the doctor to receive her ahead of other patients who were waiting. The tardy patient pulled the doctor's ear, hit her in the face, pulled her hair and took her glasses, throwing them on the floor. The physician freed herself from the woman's grasp and left the room to make a new appointment, but the patient went wild and threatened to "pull out all her hair," according to the Israel Medical Association. The woman left and the doctor filed a complaint with the police. The Clalit community doctors' union demanded security personnel in large clinics where violence is likely to occur.