Not one but two mistakes on the same prescription! The pharmacy erroneously cut the prescribed dose in half. The pills in the bottle did not match the label and reduced the dose to one-forth of that prescribed. Furthermore, I had to sign three times for this one prescription (authorization to pick up, waiver of further information, and credit card). What is the purpose of all the checks and balances in the prescription system? Caveat emptor -- consumer beware!
(This is a shorter version of a posting in 2003.)
In the blogging environment, short is a virtue, but sometimes longer is necessary.
Showing posts with label medical mistakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical mistakes. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
An Imperfect Medical System
Every medical system depends on imperfect people, which means medical care is not perfect. Here are some examples of quirky personal experience.
1. I found myself in a power struggle between a primary care physician and a colorectal surgeon because each wanted to do the colonoscopy. After reading a medical research study on the subject and realizing that I had low risk factors, I decided to disappoint both. Medical errors in the procedure remain a significant risk to the patient that must be weighed against benefit. To illustrate the point, a colonoscopy probe got stuck in a friend of mine for over an hour until they figured out how to remove it.
2. My medical records have disappeared on two occasions when a physician ended practice. In the second such instance, when I called asking for the records, I was referred to the physician's lawyer. He had a bit of a legal problem. In some localities at least, it appears that patient records need to be retained for only six years.
3. One time, I found that an unusual medical lab test result had not been reported to me. It took multiple requests for the test results to be given to me. The physician had not told me about an out of range result. I searched the Internet and found out a possible cause and treatment, which was ultimately successful in giving an in-range test result.
References:
Patient's Rights - New York State Department of Health (021014)
http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/hospital/english1.htm
Slocum-Dickson Medical Group
http://slocum.trainor.com/admin_services/medical.shtml
Title 22 - §1711. Patient access to hospital medical records
http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/22/title22sec1711.html
FindLaw
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/nycodes/c30/a124.html
(This is a shorter version of a post from 2003.)
1. I found myself in a power struggle between a primary care physician and a colorectal surgeon because each wanted to do the colonoscopy. After reading a medical research study on the subject and realizing that I had low risk factors, I decided to disappoint both. Medical errors in the procedure remain a significant risk to the patient that must be weighed against benefit. To illustrate the point, a colonoscopy probe got stuck in a friend of mine for over an hour until they figured out how to remove it.
2. My medical records have disappeared on two occasions when a physician ended practice. In the second such instance, when I called asking for the records, I was referred to the physician's lawyer. He had a bit of a legal problem. In some localities at least, it appears that patient records need to be retained for only six years.
3. One time, I found that an unusual medical lab test result had not been reported to me. It took multiple requests for the test results to be given to me. The physician had not told me about an out of range result. I searched the Internet and found out a possible cause and treatment, which was ultimately successful in giving an in-range test result.
References:
Patient's Rights - New York State Department of Health (021014)
http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/hospital/english1.htm
Slocum-Dickson Medical Group
http://slocum.trainor.com/admin_services/medical.shtml
Title 22 - §1711. Patient access to hospital medical records
http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/22/title22sec1711.html
FindLaw
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/nycodes/c30/a124.html
(This is a shorter version of a post from 2003.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)