London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, May 29, 2026

Shocked patient charged $40 ‘for crying’ during doctor’s appointment

Shocked patient charged $40 ‘for crying’ during doctor’s appointment

A photo of the bill went viral with more than 54,000 retweets and 425,000 likes, plus thousands of comments from people expressing their shock.

Talk about sticker shock.

A New York woman recently shared that her sister was reportedly charged $40 “for crying” at a doctor’s appointment.

Camille Johnson, 25, a popular YouTube and internet personality, shared a photo of her younger sibling’s medical bill.

“My little sister has been really struggling with a health condition lately and finally got to see a doctor. They charged her $40 for crying,” she captioned the photo in a tweet.

The image highlighted a segment of the bill that docked her sis for a “BRIEF EMOTIONAL/BEHAV ASSMT.”

In the Twitter thread, she explained that her sister has a “rare disease” and “got emotional because she feels frustrated and helpless,” as she’s reportedly struggled to find care.

“One tear in and they charged her $40 without addressing why she is crying, trying to help, doing any evaluation, any prescription, nothing,” she wrote.

The photo went viral with more than 54,000 retweets and 425,000 likes, plus thousands of comments from people expressing their shock.

A woman sparked an online conversation about US medical costs after sharing a photo of a bill that she said included a charge “for crying.”


In the thread, Johnson also noted that the “assessment” cost more than a vision test, hemoglobin test, a health risk assessment and a capillary blood draw.

A brief emotional/behavioral assessment is a mental health screening that tests for signs of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, suicidal risk or substance abuse. It is usually issued as a questionnaire that is often handed out and filled in before seeing the doctor.

Doctors have been testing and charging for the test since 2015 when it became a federal mandate as part of the Affordable Care Act “to include mental health services as part of the essential benefits that must be included in all insurance plans offered in individual and small group markets.”

However, Johnson told The Independent that her sister was never evaluated. She claimed that the doctor at the unnamed medical facility noticed her sister’s tears but said nothing.

“They did not evaluate her for depression or other mental illnesses, nor did they discuss her mental health with her,” Johnson said. “She never talked to a specialist, was not referred to anyone, not prescribed anything, and they did nothing to assist with her mental health.”

And while Johnson’s sister is reportedly covered by their father’s medical insurance, the family is still in shock.

“We need a drastic change in the healthcare industry, and I thought that sharing a real-life story online would be a good way to open up the conversation and help advocate for change,” she said. “I really hope this tweet can incite improvement in our healthcare system as well as be a warning for the future.”


The viral post sparked a conversation about the confusing and high prices of medical care in the United States.

Twitter user Lauren Cugliotta replied to Johnson’s post with a photo of her own medical bill showing when she was charged nearly $2,000 for “Women’s services” — which she said doctors explained was the cost of a pregnancy test.

She captioned the photo: “$1,902 to pee and for them to dip a stick into it.”

Another woman who claimed to be a nurse commented that her daughter was charged $44 for “skin to skin contact” after giving birth.

“In other words when they flopped my grandson up onto her chest after the umbilical cord was cut. I guess the cheaper alternative was letting him fall on the floor?” they tweeted.

One Twitter user claimed that they were charged $250 after a gastrointestinal specialist simply popped into their room to say hello.

“One time, when I didn’t have insurance, I landed in the hospital because of my Crohn’s disease. Hospital doc said GI specialist making rounds would stop in to introduce himself before I was discharged. GI doc said hello, gave me a business card and said I should call for an appointment. Later sent me a bill for $250. I put his business card in an envelope with the bill and a note that said I only know one profession that charges for social calls, and he wasn’t that much fun. Never heard from them again,” they shared.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that half of American adults said they put off or skipped some sort of health or dental care in the past year because of the cost.

As for Johnson’s debacle, many users were astounded by the steep, sometimes unclear or obscure medical charges faced stateside.

“Tell me you live in America without telling me that you live in America,” one tweeter summed up the majority’s frustration.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
Global Critical Mineral Alliances Expand as Western Nations Move to Counter Chinese Supply Dominance
United States Imposes Fifty Percent Tariffs on Mexican Steel and Aluminum Ahead of Trade Pact Review
European Union and China Head Toward Major Trade Conflict Over Clean Technology Exports
United States Economic Growth Severely Downgraded to One Point Six Percent as Stagflation Fears Mount
World Health Organization Warns Central African Ebola Epidemic is Outpacing Containment Efforts
United States Treasury Department Conditions Sanctions Relief on Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
Iranian Air Defenses Intercept and Destroy United States Military Drone Over Bushehr Province
Iranian Armed Forces Launch Ballistic Missiles Toward Unspecified Targets Prompting Regional Condemnation
United Nations Secretary-General Warns Global Order Facing Highest Level of Conflict Since 1945
Israel Issues Sweeping Evacuation Orders in Southern Lebanon Amid Intensified Hezbollah Conflict
Russia Announces Systemic Military Strikes Targeting Ukrainian Defense and Energy Infrastructure
United States and Iranian Negotiators Reach Draft Agreement to Extend Ceasefire and Resume Nuclear Talks
United Nations Security Council Deeply Divided Over United States Capture of Venezuelan President
US and Iran Exchange Direct Military Strikes Amid Fragile Gulf Ceasefire
World Health Organization Warns of Catastrophic Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo
Russia Threatens New Wave of Strikes on Ukrainian Infrastructure and Embassies
Scientists Warn Atlantic Ocean Currents Could Collapse Faster Than Projected
Anthropic Reaches $900 Billion Valuation in Historic AI Funding Round
Washington Imposes Crippling Sanctions on Iranian Maritime Authority
Japan and the Philippines Initiate Strategic Intelligence-Sharing Pact
Microsoft Deploys Autonomous Computer-Using AI Agents to Global Markets
Anthropic Secures $45 Billion Compute Infrastructure Agreement With SpaceX
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Resigns Amid Administration Shakeup
Micron Technology Crosses Trillion-Dollar Valuation Amid Unprecedented Hardware Demand
Canada and Germany Finalize Historic Long-Term LNG Export Agreement
China Expands International Travel Restrictions on Domestic AI Researchers
Japan Approves Sweeping Overhaul of National Intelligence Apparatus
Global Airlines Scramble Logistics as Middle East Airspace Remains Fractured
Japan's Naphtha Imports Plunge 47 Percent Amid Strait of Hormuz Closure
Global Crude Prices Retreat Below $96 as Gulf Tensions Momentarily Ease
Generative AI Outperforms Human Baselines in Landmark Global Creativity Study
NASA Partners With Private Aerospace to Unveil Permanent Lunar Base Architecture
South Korean Equity Markets Surge on Next-Generation Memory Chip Frenzy
×