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by Hamlet Pericles

Created on: January 16, 2008   Last Updated: July 12, 2008

Doctors are licensed practitioners who work in various branches of medicine, from pediatricians to neurosurgeons, from physicians to surgeons, and others related to the medical field. They treat the injured and the sick. They remove a malfunctioning organ(s) and replace it with another if need be. They apply remedies and perform many other tasks. Doctors are important and beneficial to everyone that needs care. In essence, their work is without a doubt paramount.

Nonetheless, can doctors be fully trusted? Never. Why? Because they account for thousands of medical errors, leading to disfigurement, death, traumas, and a multitude of other problems.

One would think that doctors would be near flawless, but that is far from the truth - and far from reality. Doctors, like every human being, make mistakes. But the main thing that separates a doctor's mistake from other mistakes is this: The gravity of their mistakes can lead to one's demise - and has caused a large number of deaths.

Medical errors are very common and inevitable. In a large industry that is so congested with patients, with doctors who make quick decisions, and see so many patients, it shouldn't surprise any that errors are made. In fact, studies by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) show that more than 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur yearly in the United States, which is a staggering amount.

Because there are so many medical errors that take place in the United States, only a few will be mentioned: 1) Wrong diagnosis/prescripti on; 2) Items left inside patients; and 3) Wrong side surgery/ Incisions on the wrong body part.

To begin with, wrong diagnosis/prescripti on has been problematic for quite some time. Some doctors have a sense of correctness and arrogance, believing that whatever they say is right. Basically, they carry around a god-like motif because they have the title of doctor, and that is where mistakes are made.

Making quick judgments on patients (and their symptoms) is another problem. Because doctors usually see various patients with similar symptoms, they tend to treat them similarly and render the same diagnosis. At times, they can be correct, and at other times, they can be wrong. Basically, it's a constant guessing game that should never happen. It doesn't matter how stressed out and fatigue a doctor is, he or she should make certain that the diagnosis and prescription are right - especially when it deals when one's health.

If mistakes are made through due diligence, then that's okay; however, if mistakes are made due to quick judgments, sloppiness, and arrogance, then that's a problem.

Dr. Jerome Groopman's article, "The Mistakes Doctors Make" (March 19, 2007), has some great points and supports my notion on quick judgments:

"Physicians diagnose diseases based on what is called 'pattern recognition.' We draw bits of information from our patients' symptoms, our findings on physical examination, the laboratory tests, and X-ray studies the way a magnet pulls from all directions. To form patterns in our minds, we use shortcuts in thinking, so called 'heuristics.' Usually, a doctor generates one or two hypotheses about what is wrong within the first minutes of seeing the patient and listening to his or her story. Often, we are correct in these rapid judgments, but too often we can be wrong."

The above quote by Dr. Groopman is interesting because it comes from the mouth of a doctor who actually admits he may have been wrong when making quick judgments. That is a first-class admission and represents a doctor of integrity. The sad thing is many doctors will never claim to a mistake they have made, and perhaps never will.

Secondly, doctors can not be fully trusted because they leave behind surgical instruments in patients. This type of medical error happens all the time and the question must be asked: How can a doctor and his/her team leave behind surgical tools inside of a patient? The answer may vary, but one thing is clear: Being careless and lazy are reasons for such errors.

Yes, surgery is a complex and painstaking procedure; before and after a procedure, tools are counted, not once but twice. However, accidents happen and patients are the ones who suffer, and undergo further operations to remove the tool.

This medical error causes discomfort and is very painful. Sometimes patients spend months without knowing that a tool was left inside their body until excruciating pain obligates them to return to the hospital, and that's when they learn of the tool left behind. When a tool is left behind, it can pierce and damage organs and blood vessels, leading to major internal bleeding. If a patient is not operated on quickly, the bleeding will cause death.

Sadly, some patients never get the chance to find out that a tool was left inside of them during surgery - because they perish due to the error.

Some of the surgical tools that are left in the body are as follows: dilators, tweezers, gauzes, sponges, forceps, injection needles, clamps, calipers, etc. That is a scary list and rather pathetic on the doctor's part. One study estimates that this kind of error happens 1,500 times in the U.S.; other studies increase it to more than 2,500.

Thirdly, and finally, doctors can not be completely trusted because they operate on the wrong side and/or wrong body part. This has to be the scariest situation imaginable - and it happens all too often. When most people are bound for surgery, they believe that they will be treated by a team of specialists who know what they are doing, for that is their field of expertise. Unfortunately, being a professional - and rendering more than a hundred surgeries - does not exempt that surgeon from making mistakes.

In fact, in 2007, three wrong-side brain surgeries occurred at Rhode Island Hospital, a high-status medical center that trains Ivy League students.

The first mistake happened in January by a third-year resident; the second mistake happened in July by a surgeon with more than twenty years in medicine; and the third case happened in November by the hospital's chief neurosurgeon. This clearly shows that experience doesn't mean anything.

These brain surgeries occurred because of carelessness and could have been prevented. In the January case, the surgeon forgot to mark the place where a drain was supposed to be placed in an elderly man's head. In the July case, the surgeon forgot to fill out a consent form, indicating which side of an elderly man's head would be operated on. In the November case, the neurosurgeon marked and cut into the wrong side of a woman's scalp; the nurse knew he was wrong but failed to stop him for one simple reason: afraid of being yelled at.

The issue of "being afraid to speak up by nurses" is not a solitary problem, because it happens in many hospitals throughout the U.S. Some doctors have an "I know it all; I've done this many times" attitude, which blinds their judgments. It's great to be self-assured, but such doctors are simply arrogant. Consequently, mistakes occur.

Because so many errors occur in operating rooms, The Joint Commission in 2003 introduced a process called UNIVERSAL PROTOCOL, a three-step simple process: 1) make certain and verify the correct operation; 2) mark - with a marker - the correct spot on patient's body; and 3) take a time-out and double-check before operation begins.

Even with this process, mistakes still happen in U.S. hospitals. In fact, there have been hundreds of lawsuits due to medical errors. In the case of Rhode Island, the hospital was fined $50,000 for its errors.

Mistakes will happen no matter what; it's inevitable because we are humans. Doctors are pressured constantly and have a lot on their hands - their job is complex. However, mistakes should not happen due to arrogance and stupidity. If it does, they ought to be reprimanded and punished.

In no way is this article an attack on doctors. Doctors are vital to everyone. Without doctors and without their expertise, many patients would die before their time. Therefore, we put our lives in their hands and count on them when we are sick, injured badly, etc. We also listen to their advice and take their words to be right, because that is their field of study.

However, that doesn't make them immune from mistakes; errors are susceptible to every living soul. Nobody is perfect; everybody makes mistakes. It's a part of being human.

With that said, can doctors be fully trusted? Absolutely not. Medical errors by doctors have caused thousands of deaths annually. They deliver wrong diagnosis and prescribe wrong prescriptions. They leave surgical instruments in patient's body. They operate on the wrong side of patient's body, and several of other mistakes, which lead to death.

In closing, if errors are made through due diligence, then that's not a problem. In a hospital setting, it's very likely that slip-ups will happen. Nevertheless, if mistakes are made because a doctor is egotistical, making his or her supporting team afraid to speak up and correct his/her mistake, then that's a great problem.

Doctors who make mistakes because they carry around a hierarchy motif and think they are faultless - and cannot be corrected because they know-it-all - should be removed from their position immediately. They are dangerous and their unprofessionalism can render many more deaths in U.S. hospitals.

Aided Sources:
1. http://www.wrongdiag nosis.com/mistakes
(R etrieve date: Jan. 15, 2008)

2. The Mistakes Doctors Make
By Dr. Jerome Groopman | March 19, 2007
(Retrieve date: Jan. 15, 2008)

3. Mistakes led to 3 wrong-side brain surgeries at R.I. hospital
By Michelle R. Smith / Associated Press Writer / Dec. 14, 2007
(Retrieve date: Jan. 15, 2008)

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