Mike, as unlikely as it may seem, we physicians sometimes don't dive in
feet-first at the chance to do procedures which are potentially harmful.
"Primum non nocere" - Latin for "First do no harm".  Had your physician
gone ahead with your pine-needle-ectomy, and had you been unhappy with the
result, I suspect your message would have been accusing him/her of
malpractice.

You did the procedure yourself anyways, without harming yourself.  You
might want to count yourself lucky at $50.  If you had blown it, an
Emergency Room visit would have been less of a bargain. (To say nothing of
the smirks we give home surgeons... ;-)

Joel