Emergency Emily sent me a link from Woman’s Day Magazine titled “25 Most Avoidable Medical Mistakes”
The article is actually pretty good, although the title is a little misleading. It actually contains 25 “self-help” tips that patients can use to improve their own medical care.
Don’t double up on medications, get a living will, keep your personal health records up to date, fight insurance denials, get a primary care physician (if you can find one) are just some of the recommendations.
Out of 25, the only one I “kind of” have an issue with is recommendation not to ask for antibiotics for sniffles. The article is very clear about stating that antibiotics don’t work for a cold – even putting the statement in italics. The article also correctly notes that the increase in inappropriate antibiotic use contributes to a widespread increase in drug-resistant bacteria. But it drops the ball when it states that “If you develop a persistent fever, or have discolored phlegm or sinus pain, you probably need antibiotics.”
Discolored phlegm and sinus pain may be signs of sinusitis or they may not. But even if you have a true “sinus infection”, antibiotics are not proven to help. Bust out the nasal decongestants and nasal washes.
The comment section to the article also has some other good ideas, including having a “patient advocate” if you are hospitalized.
Unfortunately, some of the other comments to the article also show how far the respect for the medical profession has fallen in the public’s view.
Sad.
I always thought being my patient’s advocate was part of what I do but I do find it can get me in hot water.
For example a confused patient has a colonoscopy, the GI doc walks in to the patient without family present and announces some thing that sounded terrible. The patient calls her daughter who then calls me. I suggest she call the doc get the info and remind him further conversations should be with daughter. The doc finds me later and berates me saying he does a lot of these everydau and how is supposed to know her mental status..I suggested that a permit sighned by family member and not patient would be a good starting point. Next thing I know I’m having conversations with nurse manger blah blah. Oh well. I think the daughter and patient were happier.
A mature man goes to the dentist`s because he had a toothpain. The dentist prescribes amoxicilina.
The mas is allergic to amixicilina, but he doesn`t say a word. He gets the prescription.
The man goes to the drug store and buy the amoxicilina. He knows that he is allergic, but he doesn`t say anything.
.
Finally. He arrives home and think: “I`m allergic, what can I do?
.
He decides not to take the pill, but to put it on his tooth, betwen his tooth and his lip.
.
Finally, he came to my emergency room with the lip very inflamed.
A girl who work doing x-ray (I don`t know the name in english) goes to the waiting room and says the name of a patient.
He says: “me”, and goes into the s-ray room.
He takes his clothes out, he rise on the table for x-ray, he lies….
And when the girl is about to press the button, he says: well, I am not xxx, I`m his father. He is in the lavatory.
And the last one.
In spanish, when you have something in your eye, we call this a “cuerpo extraño”, translated “odd body”.
Well. In the waiting room there were lots of people. There were also a hunchback man and a man with something in his eye.
The nurse says: “Please, the man with the odd body”. And the hunchback man cried: fuck you, stupid nourse, damn you mother, ….!!!!
Even the CDC admits that antibiotics are indicated for sinusitis. They just suggest not “overdiagnosing” it.
It’s not sad, it’s a byproduct of how physicians choose to be paid. They signed on to a reimbursement system years ago that has paid them extraordinarily well over the past few decades, but increasingly commoditized the patient. When you allow yourselves to be compensated on volume, you necessarily give up the relationship with the patient.
The patient isn’t stupid, they recognize how they’re being treated, and thus will treat you like any other provider of services who gets paid on volume.
What’s sad is that for the most part physicians refuse to do anything about this, and so are the largest contributors to the lack of respect they bemoan.