Is negligence in a profession a form of abuse? We think so, please read our updated comments below about the disgusting trend in American Medical Practice.
We hear a lot of good things about the Medical Profession. In general they are true, but what we don't hear is the other side of the story, the bad things.
Approximately 55,000 Americans die each year from medical malpractice or related negligence in the medical profession. Mistakes, misdiagnoses, wrong treatment, and more. In addition to those who don't make it and pass away, hundreds of thousands more suffer needlessly because of carelessness and worse including bad or abusive attitudes, knowing it all, failing to listen to the patient and more.
Sadly, negligence, abuse and worse, masked by an enforced policy of silence, denial and cover-up, outweigh the benefits with a growing number of medical professionals.
Some examples from real life best illustrate this concept:
- 1. A nurse I know with a serious obesity problem was told by several Md's over a 10 year period that she was "just lazy and ate too much". Then her metabolic problem was properly diagnosed and successfully treated. She was psychology abused by the "just lazy and ate too much" earlier MD's whose medical negligence over 10 years in duration also resulted in permanent physical and perhaps some emotional damage.
- 2. In another case a man with serious heavy metal poisoning was misdiagnosed for 30 years leaving him permanently impaired. His many requests for help during those years resulted in his being abusively labeled instead of being properly diagnosed and treated. Incredibly, during the 30 years he was misdiagnosed and labeled, his blood chemistry was clearly and consistently abnormal (as evidenced by a review of his lab work).
- 3. Recently I was a cardiac patient in JFK hospital in Palm Beach County, FL. Here is just a few of the careless errors:
1. gave me wrong medicine and perscribed wrong medicine on my discharge.
2. I gave them the name of my own Cardiologist, a member of their staff requesting they notifiy them and have them stop by. They sent another MD from a different clinic.
3. When I tried to correct these negligent errors, I was told "Don't worry, we fixed them". They even had me sign a form acknowledging the medicine was correct but the wrong medicine was on the form and when I told the girl she said, go ahead and sign it anyway, I'm fixing right now in the computer". I signed in good faith, but she never corrected the medicine.
Larter I told the head nurse about these and other mistakes, I doubt if my compaints were noted.
And so on, and so on...
All too often physicians and even nurses are unwilling to get to the root of the medical problem or patient compalints. All too often they slap a label on the patient and treat the label as if its real or refer the patient to someone else,.
Often it's an incorrect diagnosis with incorrect medication.
The patient in Case 2 above was prescribed everything from steroids and antibiotics to psychotropic drugs, none of which were appropriate. Sometimes its a psychiatric or psychological label which is nothing more than a convenient construct handed out by an often dubiously qualified physician. These labels are rarely correct and often damn the patient when they become part of the patients records. Various MD's used lables rather than correctly diagnose this patients illness.
All too often medical practitioners respond to Gestalts or impressions, and unfortunately fail to properly hear or even properly evaluate the patient.
Money also plays a very big role. There was a time when a young person become a medical professional because they were interested in helping others. According to my uncle, who was an M.D. and surgeon, physician applicants to work in his clinic were primarily interested in how much they would make, not about their medical opportunities and obligations at the clinic. If the Doc is primarily interested in making money, he may not want difficult or time consuming cases.
Recently, I saw a Dematologist to have growth removed. He told me in plain English that Medicare didn't pay enough and he would not remove that particular growth. However, he found another type of growth they would pay more for and removed them instead. To this day, I have the other growth.
You or someone you know has been seriously mistreated or even abused by a so called medical professional. Its time to report them to the AMA or your state government licensing agency. MD's have to pass state boards and you can visit your states website and file a complaint against any MD or nurse.
If you don't stand up and complain, it will get a lot worse.
I've met a lot of very good medical folks, and some poor if not potentially disastorous ones. I've also met some abusive ones who were clearly unfit to practice medicine or treat or care for any patient.
If you feel medical related abuse is valid or pressing concern in the medical profession, please include your comments below .....
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