Medical cockups: more common than officially recognised?

In my family? Yes. More than once. One involving a lawsuit. And we have docs in the family too, so you would think we would have better access to info. In others? Yes many times. Against that Ive also seen and heard of great successes. The failures stand out more.

The medical profession is a very challenging and incredibly complex job. People will make mistakes. Too many patients don't involve themselves in their care. Its not just the doctors and nurses at fault in this.

Antibiotics are a good example. We have antibiotic resistant bacteria, because of over prescription. Yes the doctors should have been much more cautious, but when every second patient demands antibiotics for every bloody thing it was a recipe for disaster. Antibiotics have zero effect on viruses. Only bacteria, so unless you have a bacterial infection serious enough to require them, then dont bloody ask for them or take them. I think doctors should be much more proactive in telling people to eff off when the ask for them. I know a woman who has gotten them for every bloody thing shes suffered in the last 20 years and her doctor keeps handing them out like smarties. Ever stronger ones too because he has to at this stage. Daft. But it is changing thank god and the doctors are driving that change.

IMHO a similar potential future minefield at the moment are anti depression medications. They are an incredibly useful tool that make some peoples lives livable and indeed may save their very lives. But the antibiotic model seems at play here too. People with low level mental issues(sometimes very low level) are being given these medications where they shouldnt be IMHO. Again a lot are demanding them. The pill for every ill, mothers little helper etc.

When that study came out that showed SSRI meds were barely above placebo in effect(with waaay more side effects), the anti shrink unsceintific hippie types were all "ha I told you so!". Bollocks. The study showed they were not much use with mild depression(which is a v diff illness to major depression). They were very useful, if not vital with severe cases.The hippies forget that bit though.

Which comes back to my point. There should be a lot fewer people on these meds than currently. Other avenues should be looked at first. Or I fear we may have worse problems in otherwise "normal" people down the line. Including(and this wont be popular) the Kick up the bloody arse (tm) therapy. Which includes such procedures as the "Get off your arse, engage your social life and your physical life and live like a human is meant to"(tm) therapy. But thats an explanation and rant for another day....

Ok one example. I have an aged rellie that needs various meds. Any time there is a change in these meds I check up on the official website of the company, just to be sure. Normally all is game ball, but sometimes meds are prescribed that have dire warnings that they shouldnt be given in concert with other illnesses or other meds. If I wasnt around, then they could be in trouble.

Ive seen this with others too. In one case of two drugs from the same company. One drug had to be cleared from the system before the next one could be given. Dire warnings in bold not to go from one to the other. Never mind mixing the two. Now one doesnt have to have a medical degree to be able to read, but the doctor in this case just didnt know enough and these were a common med for the illness.

As I say patient knowledge and involvement in concert with the doctor is vital and helps both. So long as the patient isnt googling every little thing. Thats daft.

amacachi wrote: »

All that's very frustrating and just a case of poor record keeping/sharing. Whenever my granny or some other family members are diagnosed with anything they're told to come back in a few days with all their prescription meds so the doc can figure out what they can or can't take. Surely all that should be easily accessible like?
But hey, what would I know? :P

That can be a part of it alright, but in the examples I gave it was the same doctors involved. Its just gotten so complex and there are so many drugs coming out that it must be a nightmare for doctors to constantly keep up to speed. They're often taking the pharma reps advice and advertising on face value. Naturally with the workload.