Okay this rant is based on a personal situation. Right, which ones aren't.
When I was a kid growing up we'd all play the game of what we wanted to be when we grew up. Of course I never said, oh, oh I want to be an Assistant Manager at a Mall Retail store but it seemed to happen anyway. And of course when we were playing the game or our parents and teachers were asking us what we wanted to be you'd hear the obligatory President, Lawyer, Doctor, etc. Your parents would say, when you were young, "oh you can grow up and be a doctor and make lots of money for us." or some drivel like that. Doctors have always been held up high in society and I'm beginning to wonder more and more, why?
Why do we hold up someone who has a "practice." When are the going to start doing it for real? I'm sure that's what my dying grandmother is asking herself.
My Grandmother is dying of cancer. Cancer that went undetected for at least a year because her doctor refused to entertain the possibility that she had cancer. She'd say, "I've had sisters who died of cancer." Doc says, "Nope, it's not cancer." Grandma would say, "I'm afraid I may have cancer, can you check for that?" Doc would say, "Hmm, nope you definitely don't have cancer. X-Rays look great." Grandma goes to different hospital in Bangor, Maine and they look at her records and say......
"Uh, duh, it's cancer and it's everywhere." Unfortunately, it looks like this second opinion has come too late.
My grandmother's health was held hostage by a doctors ignorance and refusal to probe further. She lives in a remote part of Maine where there really aren't any easy options for second opinions. There's one major hospital and Bangor is a good 3 hours away and for someone of her age that isn't an easy task.
So, I find myself asking, why do doctors get held in such high esteem? They are just as fallible as any others in any other profession. I know, I know. They save lives. But how many do they ruin with incompetence? I'm sure FEMA saved at least one life in New Orleans but how many did they fuck up?
I'm not saying doctors are bad evil but they aren't perfect and yet our society seems to deify them to a certain point. We want our kids to be doctors. We elect them to Congress. I just don't see the justification for their pedestal status. If you get a good doctor who really listens and helps you through what ails you that is great. And that should be encouraged and rewarded. However, I think there need to be greater consequences for those doctors, like the one who was mis-treating my grandmother, who through arrogance and stubborness condemn their patients to a sentence of a long painful death.
May what comes around, go around!
I don't know, but one book that really opened my mind was "Year of the Intern" by Robin Cook. It was a tirade against the medical school industry as seen through the eyes of Cook when he was in school, and he says some pretty scathing stuff. Basically he says doctors get that attitude forced onto them in school, and they in turn force it onto their patients, and that a lot of people are doctors who really have no business working anywhere near people in the first place.
some doctors fall into the trap
of reading the ama journal
which says that x is the proscribed treatment if the patient has y symptom
and assume that is all there is to being a doctor
i call them cookie cutter doctors
(i'm not sure why
maybe because there are only so many cookie cutters
and everything ends up the same shape)
instead of treating the patient
all they do is look up test results on a big chart
and then write you up the appropriate perscription
(i could tell you stories about doctors)
Malpractice Lawsuit?
Or if that fails remember that karma comes in many forms and some times requires a little encouragement. I think the best medicine for someone with a god complex like this doctor is to be reintroduced to the cruel reality of apparent random violence.
Recipe for Instant Karma:
1 Aluminum Baseball Bat
1 Ski Mask
1 Roll of Duck Tape
1 Pissed off Person
1 Deserving Mark
1 Late Night Encounter
Mix Liberally and Enjoy
Quote from: TechnocracyMalpractice Lawsuit?
Or if that fails remember that karma comes in many forms and some times requires a little encouragement. I think the best medicine for someone with a god complex like this doctor is to be reintroduced to the cruel reality of apparent random violence.
Recipe for Instant Karma:
1 Aluminum Baseball Bat
1 Ski Mask
1 Roll of Duck Tape
1 Pissed off Person
1 Deserving Mark
1 Late Night Encounter
Mix Liberally and Enjoy
With a recipe like that I'm sure it would be even better to mix the ingedients conservatively.
Quote from: AcogeWith a recipe like that I'm sure it would be even better to mix the ingedients conservatively.
Mixing conservatively makes it premeditated, my way you plead emotional distress and get consuling instead of cornholed. Of course you could always opt for knee-capping as a form of "non-terminal punishment. It's a free country, surprise yourself.
Quote from: TechnocracyIt's a free country
Since when?
Yep. It shouldn't surprise you to learn that doctors exhibit the same flaws as every other group of people.
Sorry about your grandma's case. She should grap some decaying uranium and strap it to her original doctor's belly for great justice.
Quote from: TechnocracyMalpractice Lawsuit?
Or if that fails remember that karma comes in many forms and some times requires a little encouragement. I think the best medicine for someone with a god complex like this doctor is to be reintroduced to the cruel reality of apparent random violence.
Recipe for Instant Karma:
1 Aluminum Baseball Bat
1 Ski Mask
1 Roll of Duck Tape
1 Pissed off Person
1 Deserving Mark
1 Late Night Encounter
Mix Liberally and Enjoy
My family's working on the first one. I've contemplated the other except my version is a little more sadistic. It involves stuffing approximately 5 packs of smoldering cigarrettes in his lungs and sewing him back up. When he looks at me with that look of agonzied terror I will respond"
"Hmm, seems like you might just have a case of the sniffles." and then walk away.
Quote from: fluffy
some doctors fall into the trap
of reading the ama journal
which says that x is the proscribed treatment if the patient has y symptom
and assume that is all there is to being a doctor
i call them cookie cutter doctors
(i'm not sure why
maybe because there are only so many cookie cutters
and everything ends up the same shape)
instead of treating the patient
all they do is look up test results on a big chart
and then write you up the appropriate perscription
(i could tell you stories about doctors)
And failing that, they just throw some antibiotics at you.
This is why you get second opinions. And a PDR so you can find out what they're giving you. They will
never tell you about the true nature of a drug, since they are often being paid by the drug company to push its wares- pharmacists are better for
those questions.
Quote from: Irreverend Hugh, KSCYep. It shouldn't surprise you to learn that doctors exhibit the same flaws as every other group of people.
Sorry about your grandma's case. She should grap some decaying uranium and strap it to her original doctor's belly for great justice.
Thanks. What makes the situation even more tragic is now my Mom and her sisters are all blaming themselves for not doing enough. But what the hell are they going to do? That's what the freakin doctor is for. I mean they were all telling this doc that, "Um, hello. Cancer in the family. Maybe check for cancer, hmm?" And he says, "Pshaww, nonsense. Probably just depression." WTF? Depression? And I watch the Simpsons and realize that Dr. Nick isn't as fictional character as I once thought.
Well, if it's any consolation, doctors get sick and die just like everyone else...
Quote from: The DoctorWell, if it's any consolation, doctors get sick and die just like everyone else...
<stabs the Doctor>
and injured.
*oof*
I already died 9 times, can't a guy get a break?
Or at least another barrel of tequila? :wink:
Quote from: The DoctorWell, if it's any consolation, doctors get sick and die just like everyone else...
There really is no consolation but the gesture is noted and appreciated.
Her illness could have been treated and cured if it had been checked into when she first started feeling ill. My grandmother trusted the doctor. Everyone said he was really good. And I have no doubts he's helped other patients but in my world he fucked up and he fucked up big. And he probably still sleeps at night, or maybe he's racked with guilt although I get the impression he isn't. His convictions led him astray. But then again as the PD says: "Convictions cause Convicts."
I know the feeling Rev, my mom lost a dear friend when the doctors botched the operation...it was a case of too many people in on the case, not listening to each other, not listening to the patient, and as a result she died in terrible pain. All she wanted was to live long enough to see her chronically ill daughter graduate law school, and thanks to the error, she died just weeks before. :(
Quote from: The Doctor*oof*
I already died 9 times, can't a guy get a break?
Or at least another barrel of tequila? :wink:
Heh. You'd do anything for a barrel, wouldn'tcha?
What can I say? You know good Tequila... 8)
Quote from: The DoctorWhat can I say? You know good Tequila... 8)
You could simply just take one of the barrels from the Open Bar. I mean, it's not like you have to be stabbed.
Well, your stabbing is an entirely voluntary decision.... ;)
::heads off to the Open Bar::
I especially like the fact that you are not allowed to see your own medical records here in the US. :evil:
shit, that's nothing.
you ever tried to sneak a peek at your own FBI file?
8)
We need a link to the FoIA application form.
Quote from: TechnocracyI especially like the fact that you are not allowed to see your own medical records here in the US. :evil:
Who told you that?
You are allowed to see them and any facility that does not allow you to do so, provided you can prove you are in fact yourself, can be fined...as well as any civil suits you may bring. Federal law states that health
info is owned by the individual. The actual
records (hardcopy and/or digital files, etc.) are owned by the facility that generated them. You are entitled to one copy of them a year. Any more than that gets a reasonable charge (usually like 75cents to a couple dollars) for each additional request within a year.
Quote from: TechnocracyI especially like the fact that you are not allowed to see your own medical records here in the US. :evil:
You can ask to see your medical records any time you want. If you have a serious condition, you might want to ask for copies.
Doctors are idiots, I keep telling you guys. They are looked up to because they are 'dedicated', they went to school for a long time and crap like that. How do you know if your doctor graduated at the top of his/her class or the bottom. Even some of the ones who are smart sometimes are so lacking in 'bedside manner' that they are practically useless. I make it my job to look up everything and annoy the hell out of all doctors I come in contact with.
Also, the older generation was taught to respect people like doctors and cops and stuff. It is a lot harder for them to be forceful. I can tell a doctor,
no, I am so sorry, but we will not be doing that, or
that is not what I meant, or
I am not going to live in this amount of pain, or
I looked that up on the internet. My grandmother would not have been able to do any of those things. Like it or not, doctors tend to listen to men better than women. If a women gets ill in her 40's or 50's, it's just hormones, or getting older, or depression.
I hope you stick it to that doctor so that he never gets a chance to 'practice' medicine on any one else ever again. Good luck to you and your family.
The only reason I thought you couldn't see them was when I moved from one state to another I asked for my doctor's record to ensure I wouldn't have any trouble when getting a new doctor. The doctor's office in Missouri, where I was leaving, told me they had to send them directly to the new doctor. This was in 1992. I didn't think about asking for copies at the time. I never had any trouble getting set up with the new doctor but ever since then I just ASSumed you couldn't see your own records.
Well I've learned something new today and can officially slack off now. :P
They do automatically send your records to the new doctor, but you retain the right to see them regardless.
Sorry about your grandmother's illness, What's-his-name.
A guy at my job had a similar experience (well, he's still in it really) when he came back for a routine one-year-later check on a "lump" in his back. When he first had it checked out the doctor assured him it was benign and nothing to worry about, but still, they'd do a routine check in one year. At that point, the "benign" tumour had suddenly spread through his entire body...
Seems like he's pulling through though, the worst part is done. But the news of the cancer must have been devastating, he's only 30, just found this new job, his wife pregnant with their first child... and *BAM*.
I guess it's the old authority-figure effect; people need someone they can trust. Especially if they're going to put their lives in his/her hands. I read somewhere about a commercial where an actor, who was well known for playing a doctor in some tv show, was recommending this-or-that medical. And it worked! So the doctor figure has even transcended the profession itself...
Quote from: Eldora, Oracle of AlchemyI hope you stick it to that doctor so that he never gets a chance to 'practice' medicine on any one else ever again. Good luck to you and your family.
Thanks. If anything good can come out of this situation that will probably be it.
Quote from: Rev. What's-His-Name?Quote from: Eldora, Oracle of AlchemyI hope you stick it to that doctor so that he never gets a chance to 'practice' medicine on any one else ever again. Good luck to you and your family.
Thanks. If anything good can come out of this situation that will probably be it.
I have seen my mom go through something similar, thank gawd it was nothing deadly, it was her thyroid. She kept getting the, you're getting older BS. I sat in an ER for hours because doctors didn't believe I was in the amount of pain I was in. So, no pain killer, no nothing. I found out later the only person who believed me was an intern, he ended up being a good doctor. Oh, and the reason they didn't believe I was in pain was because nothing showed up on the ultrasound. Apparently internal bleeding doesn't show up so good. I also had to wait because the OR's were filled up with people who had stabbed each other, but that's something completely different :roll:
Quote from: TechnocracyThe only reason I thought you couldn't see them was when I moved from one state to another I asked for my doctor's record to ensure I wouldn't have any trouble when getting a new doctor. The doctor's office in Missouri, where I was leaving, told me they had to send them directly to the new doctor. This was in 1992. I didn't think about asking for copies at the time. I never had any trouble getting set up with the new doctor but ever since then I just ASSumed you couldn't see your own records.
Well I've learned something new today and can officially slack off now. :P
Actually, back in 1992 there weren't much in the way of patient's rights to access their health records. Since 1996, that has changed with progressive refinements and effectiveness of HIPAA rules.