articles about medical mistakes, and 1/3 docs reporting impaired or incompetent colleagues

The first two are recent news reports of 3000 docs surveyed about why they don't report their colleagues; the other one helps give insight into the practitioner's mind when medical mistakes are made. sometimes sharing background helps others make more informed choices.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11 8035

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66C5TO20100713

 

http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/misc/newspage5.dtl

 

 

 I know this happens. I think everyone needs to be aware of what could happen. It takes careful research and asking lots of questions before deciding to have surgery.  I didn't do enough research with my first surgery and got less than great results but I can live with it. There is always the chance something happens that cannot be fixed. Think about Michael Jackson's nose. Most come out ok but you never know.

Thanks M, for working so hard to keep us informed.  You're wonderful to do that.  You're always in my prayers!

God bless,
Rose

"Board Certification" are just words, or a piece of paper on the wall.  Certification by a legit board means "Big Brother" is watching us as doctors.  You have to know  what the board has as standards and what it requires of it's practitioners.

Let me tell you,it's not the same anywhere else in the world.  We have a huge personal injury and med malpractice culture, and lawyers plus the regulatory agencies will pounce.

Our lawsuits, complaints, proper continuing medical education, ethics, and even our ads are watched by the ABPS and ASPS.

"Pain in the butt for me" (not really), good for patients:

From Obesity Help magazine, back in 2004:

http://www.drlomonaco.com/files/obesity_help_be_smart_articl e.pdf

My brother landed jets on aicraft carriers, and now flies 777s for American Airlines with lots of people on board.  We talk about safety a lot, and the culture of safety.

Medicine has a background that does not forgive error.  This is from the article I linked to below on why medical errors are such a problem:

"When I got into healthcare, I felt like I'd stepped into an entirely different world. It was all about, "Let's figure out who screwed up and blame them and punish them and explain to them why they're stupid." To me, it's almost like whistling past the grave. When we demonize the person associated with a bad event, it makes us feel better. It's like saying, "We're not stupid so it won't happen to us." Whereas in fact it could happen to us tomorrow.

From the article "The Wrong Stuff" by James Bagain (a physician, astronaut, parachutist, and pilot)

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/thewrongstuff/archive/tags/ medical+error/default.aspx