More people die each month from medical mistakes than died on Sept 11,2001. Each and every month.
Now when you add in the thousands that are harmed in a life altering way, but don't die. the numbers are staggering! When people see a doctor they expect that they are being cared for, that the doctor would put their health and well being above all else. After all, these guys supposedly took an oath , right?
Not true, these people are looking out for number 1, and its time that we as patients do the same. We must quit thinking of doctors as the good guys, they are sometimes, greedy, in debt, drunkards, uncaring , etc,, and they can put on a smile and fool you, I know because I have had this kind of doctor !! And my life will never be the same, that is why I tell you, be careful !

Who makes sure that these guys do no harm? nobody,, Who inspects in case of patient claiming doctor did something wrong? Other doctors, and keep in mind that when doctors were questioned about whether they had seen another doctor under perform, most had, yet most did not report the doctor !!!!!! They tend to cover up for one another!

It is estimated that 200,000 people a year have either wrong site surgery or wrong surgery, there is no clear national data base on these figures.
When seeing an eye doctor ( especially in Bowling Green , KY ) , if they want to perform a surgery or procedure, get a second opinion OUTSIDE of that doctors circle !!!

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Thanksgiving,, are you thankful for your doctor?

In scanning the internet for articles I ran across one article detailing how harvard business school students are calling upon one another to sign a pledge of ethics as they prepare to go out into the business world. Grant you, only 20 percent had signed the pledge, but oh, at least 20 percent have started with the right idea!!

Doctors are suppose to pledge integrity, honesty, to do no harm, right? Well, I don't know how they are talking themselves into believing they are ethical, when in fact,they are greedy ( yes, you know who you are ) but I wonder if they have any higher rate of even starting out believing they could be ethical than the 20 percent of Harvard? Or did they start out thinking,, hmm,, lets do all the surgeries we can, whether good for patient or not, and line our pockets?
I came across a possible answer in an article recently about doctors and their ethics,, it went like this
" Do you think you will walk into a car lot and have the salesman tell you that you do not need a new car ?" Well,, do ya?
And that is why we as patients need to stay informed, not blindly trusting, or you may end up like me,, more blind, but not trusting,,
To the doctors, Downing and Porter,,,,,,,,,,,,, have you checked your ethics lately? well, have you?

Differential Diagnosis Method

Doctors are SUPPOSED to learn this early on, basically it is taking into account the underlying conditions that could cause a problem.. Taking shortcuts often prove to be detrimental to the patient , in an extreme case, one day in the hospital an elderly woman fell, hitting her head, the doctor spoke on the phone to the nurse, decided that the woman had only abrasions .
The woman over the next few hours got worse, tests were ordered too late, she died, the actual cause of the problem was bleeding inside , compressing the brain, had the doctor looked for the reasons for the fall, possible injuries from the fall etc, this woman may not have died.

In my case, had Dr Porter at Downing McPeak vision center, considered the underlying problem, which I repeatedly told him I had RP. he would have realized that the symptoms he thought were caused by a cataract, were actually caused from my original condition RP, he would have saved me from going through the rest of my life with compromised vision, from the headaches, from my vision declining , and a host of other problems,, but whether he didn't use the correct method in making his diagnosis, or whether he only sought the money from being able to put one more surgery under his belt? I may never know,, but from doing extensive research into why this happened to me,, I do know that had I went to a better doctor, this would have never happened to me,, so be careful out there, make sure your doctor has looked at the possible causes of your problem before you end up with your health in worse shape just so your doctor can line his pockets ....

How Clean is your Doctor???

With the Swine Flu upon us ,we are all thinking more in terms of making sure we wash our hands etc, yet I have mentioned it before that when I went to Dr Downings office and Dr Porters office at the Downing and McPeak vision center, I didn't see anyone cleaning anything, nope , patients would leave the machines and they would call the next one in, never cleaning it, I saw doctors in the hallway, on cell phones, shaking hands with people, after just having left one patient, and immediately go into the next room and treat patient,, this can be bad for you.

These types of practices can cause you many eye and vision problems, had I done this kind of research before going into that office, I would have left!!!!

I know we are all more aware of these things because of flu season, but we need to be aware of these things from these types of quacks ALL the time!!!!!