50/50 Chance at.......

[Dreadsox]

getting treated properly by your doctor here in the United States.

[Q]On average, doctors provide appropriate health care only about half the time, a landmark study of adults in 12 U.S. metropolitan areas suggests.[/Q]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-06-25-medical-quality_x.htm

I am stunned as I look at this, but I am not surprised. We have had some interesting Doctor experiences since becoming parents. But 50/50? Come on, even a used car dealership has a better percentage of selling a decent car.

 

[melon]

I'm not shocked. I pissed more than a few doctors off when I told them what I suspected was wrong with me, and, defiantly, they refused to entertain it. After finally getting one to listen to me and treat me appropriately, I've never felt better my entire life.

I have a very low opinion of doctors now.

Melon

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Doctors in the UK are probably even worse, if anything. Working in a pharmacy, you wouldn't believe the number of people who have told me about how badly they've been treated by a doctor. You also wouldn't believe how much money is wasted on prescription medications that people either don't need or are inappropriate for them.

Perhaps the most obvious example is the number of people who are now prescribed anti-depressant medications, especially the number of under-18s, despite the fact that most aren't licensed for use in patients under the age of 18. Doctors would rather simply write a person a prescription for cheap anti-depressants than take the time to find out why that person is suffering from depression (ie do they have clinical depression or are they having short-term problems due to losing a job or breaking up with a partner, etc) and refer them to a doctor who is able to offer appropriate help.

I'm currently on an NHS waiting list, and I won't get an appointment for at least two months. That's an appointment for preliminary tests, not for treatment of course, so by the time I actually get treatment for whatever is actually wrong, I'll probably have waited a good six months. Doctors don't seem to care if they leave their patients suffering for months before finally getting treatment.

I won't even get into how many horror stories about mistreatment I've heard from people at work or just people I know. It's really shocking, and while I don't blame the doctors entirely, I am disappointed by how little compassion or concern they seem to have for their patients.

 

[verte76]

OMG. It took me twenty years to get diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. Before that I was diagnosed as a schizophrenic and then a personality disorder. The doc wasn't giving me the right meds for it. He'd never even heard of Asperger's (OK it wasn't in the diagnostic manuals until 1994. But come on, this was 2000!) I had to change shrinks *twice* before I got a doc who knows how to treat this stuff. I believe the survey, Dread. This situation stinks.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I am not surprised at all by the result of this study, especially because I was one of the many people who had anti-depressants thrown at them when they didn't need them. As a minor, I was on them for 9 months before anyone suggested I talk to a counselor or psychiatrist or be analyzed for depression. Eventually, my shrink said, "You know. I don't think you need these." What a miserable year and a half (it takes time to come off the pills), and all for nothing!

Nowadays I try to go to the doctor's office armed with as much information as possible. It's surprising how often I've had to suggest treatment options to my physicians. Once at the gynecologist, she recommended surgery for a problem I was having. I suggested an inexpensive medicine instead, and she said, "Yeah. That's a good idea."

Just some anecdotal evidence. There are, however, some great doctors and specialists out there who deserve recognition for their great work. But some of the others...whoa.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I have never ever ever ever had a good experience with a traditionally trained allopathic physician. Ever.

After going to 5 different doctors over the last 9 months who would not take seriously the symptoms I described, and spending hundreds of dollars to hear 'just keep an eye on it,' my friend the clinical nutritionist gave me two bottles of amino acids ($7 a bottle). Nine months of job-threatening shoulder/neck pain disappeared completely after 3 days.

That's been a typical scenario for me for 20 years.

 

[nbcrusader]

I am not surprised either. Medicine is not an exact science, and few people go to the doctor with an educated idea of the problem (like Melon).

Thank you for your post Fizz, it appears that a nationalized healthcare system is not the "cure".

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Thank you for your post Fizz, it appears that a nationalized healthcare system is not the "cure".

Actually, not to nitpick, nb but it doesn't exactly prove that our system is any better.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

It's actually not nationalised healthcare which is the problem. It's the fact that our government is massively underfunding the health service right now. From 1979 to 2001 spending on the NHS (national health service) went down, down, down. It has recovered SLIGHTLY since 2001, but spending in real terms is still way down on 1979 levels. The cause of the NHS' problems isn't the fact that it's provided as a public service, it's the fact that the government are unwilling to fund it adequately.

 

[nbcrusader]

Actually, not to nitpick, nb but it doesn't exactly prove that our system is any better.

Very true. I believe healthcare expectations rarely match what is delivered.

 

[anitram]

Having gone to school with dozens of future doctors, I can tell you I'm not surprised. I'd say about 60% were in it for the prestige, another 20% in it for the money, 10% because they had good grades and figured they might as well go to med school, 9% because their parents thought it was a good idea and 1% because they gave some real thought to it and believed they'd be good at it.

I might sound like a quack, but I had a particular health problem and was getting the run around from our esteemed medical community. I took my money and went to reiki - it totally changed me, and I have nothing but great things to say about it.

 

[verte76]

I went to school with a bunch of pre-meds myself since I originally wanted to go into health informatics. Yes, a bunch of them go into medicine for the wrong reasons--money and prestige. The right reason to go into medicine is because you love the science and you want to help people. I'm not saying doctors have to be Mother Theresa, but too many of them are self-absorbed.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Y'know, just thinking about this subject: my dream job would be to be a doctor. I'm probably being absolutely unrealistic since I would have to take another two years of college prep classes and then find some way of paying for five years of medical school. But that aside, the only reason I have ever wanted to do the job is to help people. I know it pays very well, I know it's well respected etc. But it's also a very difficult job, there is a lot of studying before you qualify and it's not just about being good at science or whatever. I can't understand why anyone would go into a caring profession if it wasn't because they truly wanted to help people. Of course I'm not disagreeing with Anitram or Verte, because I do know that lots of people go into medicine for the wrong reasons, I'm just saying that personally I can't imagine studying that hard and working in such a demanding job if it wasn't for the right reasons.

[/rant]

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Just to add another perspective:

A lot of doctors may go into the practice for the right reasons, but many become frustrated and jaded due to insurance/HMO restrictions, frivolous malpractice lawsuits, nursing shortages, and other such things. There are a lot of monetary pressures put on doctors from lots of different angles. That may account for some of the poor decisions and treatments being pursued.

 

[nbcrusader]

frivolous malpractice lawsuits

Malpractice insurance saps the life out of a medical practice. Nothing like letting a lawyer second guess you all the time.

 

[therulz]

I wonder..

I wonder at who stacked those ratings and what district they got them from...

Our Doc's are pretty great...and I used to want to be one but not any more... to do the Pre-med...medical school... internship and years of residency...they put a LOT of their life into it. I really admire them for that committment. For now I am happy with my role as it is.
I find a couple of problems that I could see bend the issues to read that way though ...one with HMO's and tight insurance plans...your health care coverage, treatments and medications are being second guessed changed because they aren't listed in a formulary by people that do not know your personal health and have never assessed you. Your hospitalization allowable stay and allowable therapy sessions comes out of a book...your DME equipment is negotiable...lots of people don't bother trying to get items covered as durable medical equipement because they don't know they can.
The other is...I think we all need to really establish care with someone who is willing to not only take an accurate history on us but maintain it...take your "list" to this appointment and sit down and discuss your health with the Doctor....a 15 minute acute appointment is not enough time to sort serious chronic issues out with them...ask the appointment schedulers what time you have allowed and let them know if you have other things you want to have addressed. Your health and the power to do something about it is in your hands.

 

[najeena]

There are good doctors out there who got into it for the right reasons, and who are disgusted with the insurance and drug industries that make their jobs nearly impossible. The one I have in mind is seventy now and glad that he's out of it, for exactly those reasons.

 

[verte76]

Malpractice insurance saps the life out of a medical practice. Nothing like letting a lawyer second guess you all the time.

This stinks. The whole malpractice thing is why I changed careers. When I found out I was going to send more time in a courtroom than I would at the hospital I changed my major, from health informatics to history. Meanwhile one of the best surgeons in Birmingham got screwed by a lawyer who used totally false accusations in court, and won. It was a nightmare.