Something about stretching the definition of "medical error?"

For that matter, every time there's a doctors' strike, the death rate in that city goes down.

If we stipulate that the effect is true, then, the Straight Dope argues, its existence is due to a postponement of elective surgery.

If someone wants to award me a grant of sufficient size, I'm sure I can find the time to lend a hand to any study.

Best wishes.

Not to mention the doctors hand them out like candy, without studying up on them.

"systemic issues such as communication breakdowns when patients are handed off from one department to another. "
this has been an absolute pox on her life. she recently went through a period of serious weight loss and back pain. the gi, the back pain doc, her regular doc, none of them seemed to think it was their job to figure out what the problem was. they all just checked off what the problem wasnt, in their opinion.

turns out she had gallstones, the biggest over an inch in diameter, and pancreatitis. the back pain doc asked for and got permission to talk to her shrink, saying he wanted to get her better pain meds. he instead asked the doc if she should try antidepressants. iow, all in her head.

she has been tagged as a drug seeker in more than one situation.

they finally blew up, and caused a medical emergency, and emergency surgery.
she has spent half her life suffering needlessly stuck in the stove pipes of the medical system.

That they were just checking off what the problem wasn't instead of looking for what was wrong. I recall a situation where I had text book symptoms of a condition and doctors saw every BUT that condition, one that could have killed me. So often drugs are just thrown at a problem perhaps out of habit, evidently forgetting "First do no harm". I don't blame doctors as much as the overall system that often does not promote health.

Back in the stone age when I was a nurse your family doc admitted you to the hospital and managed your care. He coordinated your care with the specialists he consulted. Now hospitals are corporate owned and hire their own staff and communication between doctors is fragmented.

For several years I had a primary physician who was very familiar with my condition, but whenever I went into the hospital, he was no part of my treatment which varied radically from one doctor to the next.

I too remember the "stone age" and having one's own doctor oversee your care and treatment. I also remember a much different nurse to patient ratio which dramatically improved the care a patient received. We pay so much more for so much less.

all over the world for our outstanding medical care. Right? That good feller rush said so.

What do they call the guy that graduated last in medical school?







Doctor

eom

so of course, they will create some amnesty so all the foreign firms cant be sued.

more than 20 years ago. the negotiations have been off and on since then. Most recent WTO Ministerial was in Nairobi in December.

What I am talking about is GATS "Mode Four" the movement of natural persons. TiSA also has Mode Four and TTIP has a Government procurement contingent that would function similarly with L-1 visas needing to be given to the workers from firms that win work by being the lowest bidders. Its all about lowering costs.

"they will create some amnesty so all the foreign firms cant be sued." Kind of like they have done in so many states in the US of A? You know all that tort reform that limits the amount of settlements so doctors malpractice insurance would be cheaper. Oh and most people in other 1st world countries speak English on top of their own language. Many speak 2, 3 or more languages so not sure how bad a language barrier would be but seriously doubt Hillary is even thinking, no less preparing to globalize health care.

The reason its taken so long is US politics.

They needed a real crisis to get it approved so they've created one with Obamacare. (See http://www.pnhp.org/states_flatline/State%20Health%20Reform%20Flatlines%20IJHS%20-%202008.pdf ) Its right on schedule, just give ait a few more months to "ripen".

We're really going to have major price jumps. Oh no! Gotta dump those wage regulations- we have no choice!


Similar crises in education and IT will require Hillary's "hard choices" there too. Sure it was planned before- what difference does that make?

Wages will drop like a stone when foreign firms start winning ALL those bids for the "rebuilding of our infrastructure"

Google "Disciplines on Domestic Regulation"

e.g.: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/doctors-basic-errors-are-killing-1000-patients-a-month-7939674.html

Perhaps overworked doctors are medically contraindicated.

For me, every pill I got was barcode scanned, checked against a list, my wrist tag was scanned, then I got the pill.

For my friend, the same, but everything is cross checked by two nurses. Part of the reason that the pills that cost me a dime at the pharmacy (after insurance) get billed at $10 or more. On the bright side, I couldn't take most of my prescriptions while I was there.

The reality is that nurses work long shifts, often without lunch or pee breaks, and with increasing patient ratios. It is really a wonder that there aren't more errors when you work someone so ruthlessly.

The nursing staff is getting killed in the hospital setting in the name of budget cuts "in order for the hospitals to stay solvent". And then at the end of the year, the freaking CEO's get millions in bonuses.

And we wonder why there is a nursing shortage? There is a reason why the nursing lifespan is paltry.

The one thing I do agree with this article is that hospitals need to be held to higher standards. And I don't mean policies or protocols. That's cheap and there's plenty of that already. What I am talking about invokes ratios and staffing---both if which are NOT cheap. But if you really want to reduce medical errors, that is exactly where they should be looking and addressing issues from there.

Last edited Wed May 4, 2016, 11:27 AM - Edit history (3)

Everyone's going to die of something. I apologize for the alarming news, but....

Cave people died of broken legs. They tripped and fractured a femur. The wound got infected. They died.

Civil war soldiers died of amputations. Stonewall Jackson got shot in the arm. It was removed. He died of complications.

Who in a first-world country dies from polio? Smallpox? Leishmaniasis?

When the old diseases are eliminated, then no one dies of the old diseases. As the other killers fall by the wayside, death from medical errors moves up the list.

The death rate is the same it has always been: one per customer. (credit: a high school teacher)

40,000 men and women every day:

Prescribe opioid medications, and they call you Dr. Feelgood. Prescribe an appropriate non-narcotic alternative, and they call you Dr. Mengele.

Having to see too many patients in the course of a work-day, with too little time to address all of the patients' issues. Lacking nurse triage which can weed out the patients not really in need of a clinic visit ("I've got a little cold; could you give me some anti-biotics?&quot , thereby unnecessarily increasing the work-load. Hospitals and other clinics who drag their feet getting prior records to me for review. Patients who refuse to follow up with their care provider, or refuse to comply with their providers' advice ("Yeah, I smoke two packs a day, and I'm having trouble breathing, but you're not getting me to quit. Could you just give me some anti-biotics?&quot .

It can make for a difficult workday.

On balance, medicine is a vastly fulfilling career, but we need to reform our system in order to make life-threatening mistakes less likely.

ment, so I totally hear what you're saying about the patients (customers).

Problem is, you have to be careful, or you end up blaming the customers for systemic flaws.

Now, I've got some strong feelings about the healthcare system we have from a patient perspective, and if you'll permit, will share those feelings with you.

First of all, I don't smoke or drink, and exercise each day in an effort to manage my weight. Generally, I'm pretty healthy. I am in my late fifties.

I have not been to my HMO in several years because I think they care far more about cutting costs than they do about providing health care services for me. Why do I think this? Well, we've had double digit increases in premiums for the last five years. Copays have risen and now if I must be hospitalized, I face a financially crippling copay. In the meantime, between my employer and I, we pay 18.9% of my gross for this 'plan.' So, basically, Aristus, I'm paying out the nose for very little in the way of decent service. My shitty, rationed healthcare plan really doesn't serve me at all. I have NO confidence in this HMO, and that is based on many experiences with them over the years. If you get sick and call them - and believe me, I REALLY have to be sick to call them - they put you off, and off and off, and then when you get in there they prescribe the least effective (but least expensive) treatment. In short, Aristus, they SUCK.

Recently, I slipped and fell. My quadriceps tendon completely separated from my kneecap and flapped up into my thigh like a cartoon window shade. BUT IT WAS WORKER'S COMP. I NEVER had to worry about anything but going in and getting the treatment I needed. I was given the name of a surgeon to consult at the ER on Monday the day of the accident, saw him two days later, and had the surgery
on that Friday. I was referred to a P/T outfit and they've been great. Bottom line, from my perspective as a patient, it is WONDERFUL not to have to be wheeled on a stretcher through the finance department so the ambulatory care or hospital system can assure itself of payment BEFORE any treatment is given.

You know, the healthcare insurance companies hired merchants of lies in the mid-90s to nix single payer, and then to talk about 'death panels' during Obama's first 100 days. But the death panels are the profit mongers who are keeping us from single payer. I hear of people dying because they can't afford to get treatment, or going bankrupt to get treatment, not being able to afford the drugs they need. I see slime balls like Shkreli raise the prices of drugs people need to survive to the point where people die because they cannot afford them, and I get very, very, very angry.

I want single payer, NOW. This is why I'm such a big Bernie supporter.

I don't know if my post will do anything for you, but I urge you to try not to blame the patients because all of them aren't like the ones you describe.

But in clinical practice, my workday is essentially indistinguishable from that of an MD.

The insurance companies really are the problem, and I'm longing for the day we get single-payer. As much as a lot of liberals hate the Affordable Care Act, the truth is, it did make a great deal of health care resources available to those who didn't have access before.

You mentioned providers who prescribe the least expensive treatment. Although I give may patients the most effective care possible, I do practice conservative management as much as possible. (It's the only conservative thing about me...) Patients don't always like to hear that if they go home, rest, drink plenty of water, and give it a few days, they'll be fine. Many of them feel that if they don't leave the clinic with a bottle of pills or something, that they've been cheated out of their co-pay somehow.

Still, in my clinical practice, whatever the stresses, I'm coming down on the side of my patients, and not the insurance companies. God speed the day we don't have them determining clinical outcomes anymore...

The desire to cut costs and/or increase revenue has nothing to do with treating patients.

THIS IS WHY I'M FOR BERNIE AND THIS IS WHY I WANT SINGLE PAYER

NOW.

We're the best at everything. We're exceptional. Exceptionally stupid.

Those revolving door grease monkeys would make a third world kleptocrat blush.

A few shifts, at most, should convince just about everyone.

..having my lung punctured and collapse, then having them miss on the first attempt to reinflate it and thus nicking my liver, resulting in another surgery and about 10 more inches of incision, I don't find this terribly hard to believe...