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  • From: SJC <indexer AT localnet.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] was medical safety in this country, now med errors
  • Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:50:44 -0400

Lynda wrote:
OBVIOUSLY you have an ax to grind.
Hey, I just pointed out that your statement was less than accurate. No sense gettin' all bollixed up. The 'axe' I was discussing with Bob was the horrible inefficiencies in the system and some of the dire results that occur.
Yes, the patient care in the U.S. is dismal. HOWEVER, the majority of the responsibility lies with insurance companies and quite a bit lies at the feet of the patients.
Well, no one said it didn't. That post related to a conversation Bob and I were having. If he got the meaning I'm happy.
And, NO, lab tests won't put the lie to most of the things patients do and don't report.
I was just pointing out that not all med errors are reported, dear......
Besides, if any doctor ran the number of tests necessary to rule out all the patient lies, the insurance companies would have fits AND the patients would have fits.

Perhaps you think I lied to the doctor? No. I'm not in the habit of lying. As you so aptly pointed out, that wouldn't have gotten me good medical care anyway. In the cited example, he had had my entire medical history for several weeks and it was in front of him as he wrote the script, including the current med schedule and including a pt/inr report less than a week old. The insurance was not in on it at that point, nor are they yet, nor will they be. I paid the lab myself and left him with the Vitamin K bill. And it was simply an example to point out that not all med errors are reported, and how that might happen. No point getting huffy.
I've seen my share of dumbass doctors. I'm not deluded, but I'm not merrily making all the docs out to be the bad guys nor sending on the links that say "may have" "could be" etc. Either use facts or simply put in the subject line "personal rant."
I made no reference to your being deluded in connection to doctors, but to the problem of med errors and whether or not they are all reported. Of course not all med errors are made by doctors: there are pharmacists, parents, patients, nurses, paid caregivers.......and certainly they are not all made in reporting facilities. I merely pointed out that not nearly all med errors are reported and an example of one way they go unreported. So your statement "BTW, ALL med errors are reported, period!" is inaccurate, and dangerous from the point of view that it lends the idea that 'somebody' is looking after the store. The somebodies try, but the system doesn't always provide the information; we all need to be aware and checking/cross-checking all the time. See example.
The link I sent was to an article from JAMA and was full of facts. I take them as facts as the publication is reputable, presents the views of the lead medical association in this country, and I certainly didn't do the research but if JAMA accepts the article, they must consider it factual. I've seen excerpts from that article quoted several times and I've never known JAMA to refute any part of it. Perhaps you didn't read the article, or perhaps you disagree with the author's point of view to the point you don't accept what she presents as facts. That's your prerogative, of course. I ain't forcin' ya.

I don't get the "may have" "could be" unless you are referring to the title of the guy's blog. I put the link there not for the blog itself but for the article he has copied there from JAMA, "Is US Health Really the Best in the World?" because the only other place I could find it was on JAMA's website and I'm guessing most folks don't have and don't want to pay for a subscription. I didn't get bogged down with the blog itself; that's just where I found what I was looking for.

Susan Jane, in Maine





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