I have always considered that having a nurse for a wife is a real plus. Her assessment skills are so good that she can often tell, just by looking at someone, if they are sick. Once, we went to a party at the home of an elderly friend. Before we left, my wife told our friend that he should go see his doctor. This was just from her observation during the party. Our friend had not complained about anything during the course of the evening. Sure enough, though, after seeing his doctor and having tests run, it was discovered that he was pretty sick.
Fortunately, she hasn”t had to suggest to me that I should see a doctor. But, her nursing experience has helped me. I have had to have a few surgeries over the years, usually because of sports injuries of some nature. Much of my wife”s hospital work has been in the operating room, so she has generally known who the best surgeons are, and those are the doctors who have performed my operations. So far, I”m batting 1.000. My broken nose, my torn bicep and my bum knee were all repaired to my satisfaction.
The problem is that not everyone has a wife or husband in the medical field, so how do they find out who the best doctor is for the particular need they may have? Unfortunately, it can be a difficult process. While I value and respect the doctors, dentists and chiropractors who have helped keep my body in good health over the years, I also have seen another side of the medical profession and, in some ways, it isn”t pretty. Physicians, as a career field, along with the assistance of their primary professional organization, the American Medical Association, are a close-knit group that really protects its own.
If you ever want to see this in operation, just get involved in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Doctors on the hot seat have no difficulty in finding expert witnesses from within their own profession to testify that, in their expert opinion, the doctor followed protocol and that the unfortunate outcome was within the range of the possible risks. Obviously, no doctor wants to be saddled with a malpractice lawsuit loss. But, when a doctor makes a mistake, I believe it is wrong for his or her professional brothers or sisters to work together to cover it up.
I am also of the opinion that it is wrong for the medical profession to hide the faults of its members from the public that counts on them, often in life and death circumstances. The American Medical Association is a huge lobbyer of Congress and, so far, that has paid off handsomely for the profession.
The government updates the National Practitioner Data Bank four times per year. All malpractice cases and complaints against a physician are part of that update. So, what”s the problem? The public has no access to the bad stuff because, according to Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen Health Research Group, “Congress rolled over when it agreed to restrict public access to the HHS database.” Even attorneys who are investigating physician complaints are denied access.
From what I have read, it appears that the majority of doctors have a good record. But there are some physicians who have multiple complaints, who have been disciplined by hospitals and/or associations and have lost multiple patients during procedures in which patients are not expected to die. The fact that those doctors are protected and their potential patients are denied access to information that might cause them to seek another doctor or at least another opinion, I believe is in violation of an American”s rights as a consumer.
Gary Dickson is the editor and publisher of the Record-Bee. Call him at 263-5636, ext. 24. E-mail him at gdickson@record-bee.com.
