Blog Three

When was the last ime I was bothered by something real and important? What did I do about it?

"First do no harm" namely to do good or to do no harm. http://www.ancienthistory.about.com/
This becomes a more prevelent statement from once one experiences a doctor who arrogantly ignores this creed. My opinion states that doctors must be held accountable and experience consequences from a higher order when their care is considerably below par. "What to do when Doctors simply do not adhere to sage standards?" Doctors must admit and be held accountable for when the quality of care a patient receives is not delivered, getting past professional arrogance."http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/7/health/17chen.html there must be a balance between blame and accountability...a need for increased accountability and the impact of such on patient and doctor realationship.

I went to the doctor in October 2009 to have a cyst removed from my scalp. I have had this done two times before without incident. One was in the same location and was the same size.
This time went terribly wrong. There was trouble stopping the bleeding, I was bandaged quite heavily and sent home. I was told to lie back and take it easy that the bleeding would stop. I had to return to the office not 15 minutes after leaving because the bleeding was very heavy and coming through the bandages and down my neck. Upon my return efforts to alleviate the bleeding with pressure were painful and fruitless but went on for 20 minutes. When Dr. X who thought it was enough to leave me with her PA (physician assistant), was finally called she literally 'dug around' my scalp and found two torn veins. In the following 2.5 hours I was operated on without any anesthetic. Screaming, crying. Dr. X actually yelled at me and instructed her staff (PA and receptionist) to 'shut me up'. In the end Dr. X made a joke about my 'bloody' appearance. Bandaged me and sent me home. The pain would be beyond your imagination.

I needed much support in the following days most of which helped me find Dr. Y who was willing to do the follow-up care. I had to cover my head for more than 3 months as an open wound this size is very suseptible to infection. I learned that I was not the first patient of Dr. X that Dr. Y had treated. And also learned of other people who were apalled from their own Dr. X experience. None as severe as mine. I regret that these men and women chose not to report their experiences, and that Dr. Y discouraged me from doing so also stating. 'it could have been worse, an eye, limb....' "Good Physicians know the bad ones in their midst. Why don't they point fingers?"http://www.rd-com/living-healthy

A malpractice lawyer told me I was "not damaged enough' another lawyer took the time to explain to me the difference in today's law, between malpractice and poor medical care. This information was interesting and helpful. I followed his suggestion to report my experience to the Arizona Medical Board. This process encompasses a lengthy adjudification process of which Dr. X is privy to all my information yet I am not privy to any communication between her and AZMD.
The process was long because Dr. X was not responding to AZMD's investigators calls. More than 4 months later I received notice that no action would be taken against Dr. X at this time and I was thanked for my participation. I conclude that 'Promoting safety, doing it right, takes time and money. Ethics and professionalism are important but not enough.' http://nytimes.com/2009/12/17/health/17chen.html

I have gone over the situation and must still conclude that without consequences and/or greater resources for the patient who is harmed, this type of carelessness will continue to eventually have greater consequence to the patient. For now I will do thorough checks of a doctor before putting myself in their hands, I will bring someone with me for the entire visit, ask lots of questions and not hesitate at all to walk away if I sense that's what I must do.