Medical Crisis - Take control of your healthcare!

by Edward B. Toupin

I realize that this short article is outside of the content that I normally provide. However, I felt compelled to provide a "lessons learned" article for you with regard to some interesting experiences with the medical community. I could author a tome of the stories I've heard and the disastrous medical records I've seen; however, I am just providing a short overview of some information garnered over the past years that might help you when visiting your medical practitioner.

Although I am not a doctor, I have spoken with many people and doctors as well as researched and experienced enough over the years to provide some insight into dealing with medical practitioners in our day and age. The purpose of this article is not to provide medical advice, but to provide information on how to prepare and protect yourself when dealing with today's medical community.

Disconcerting

The medical community is in a sad state of affairs at the moment. Doctors are afraid to provide medical assistance at the level they once did because of medical malpractice issues. Patients are slowly finding that it is ridiculously expensive and, out of concern for their own well-being, feel it is unsafe to visit their doctor. It has somewhat turned into an "us-against-them" situation.

The cost of medical care is ridiculous these days and the problem relates to the cost of liability insurance and various "frill" expenses required to ensure that the doctors are in the good graces of governmental and regulatory agencies. This problem is based on those patients who, at one time, sued to pocket a few dollars where, now, when a real crisis occurs no one is willing to help and the medical practitioner simply hides behind the legal curtain and waits until that the problem (i.e., the patient) goes away.

The situation is that there are so many issues arising due to improper medical care that indeed, the problem will not go away. As more and more of these problems appear, they will eventually create gridlock, which will force someone to step back and take a serious look at the situations within the medical community. Except for the politics of the situation, why should we have to wait until it is beyond repair before something is done to resolve the problems?

Over-Prescription

One situation I recall was a young woman who was placed on Valium after witnessing a murder. While she was only supposed to be on the drug for three months, she was left on the addictive medication for six years. After the horrendous side-effects and finally reaching the end of the line with the drug, she sought assistance from a counselor.

Interestingly enough, she was classified as an "addict", yet she was "involuntarily-addicted" by her doctor. She was able to come off the medication and seek counseling for the after-effects and is now a fully functioning individual. However, because of the actions of one doctor, she nearly died and then had a terribly difficult time coping and adjusting to a "normal life" again.

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