Friday, May 03, 2013

This GE, seek second opinion, just like what you should do, when having a medical problem

Kevin had shingles.

Those of us who spend much time in a doctor's office should appreciate this! Doesn't it seem more and more that physicians are running their practices like an assembly line?

Here's what happened to Kevin:

Kevin walked into a doctor's office and the receptionist asked him what he had. Kevin said: 'Shingles.' So she wrote down his name, address, medical insurance number and told him to have a seat.

Fifteen minutes later a nurse's aide came out and asked Kevin what he had...
Kevin said, 'Shingles.' So she wrote down his height, weight, a complete medical history and told Kevin to wait in the examining room.

A half hour later a nurse came in and asked Kevin what he had. Kevin said, 'Shingles..' So the nurse gave Kevin a blood test, a blood pressure test, an electrocardiogram, and told Kevin to take off all his clothes and wait for the doctor.

An hour later the doctor came in and found Kevin sitting patiently in the nude and asked Kevin what he had.

Kevin said, 'Shingles.' The doctor asked, 'Where?'

Kevin said, 'Outside on the truck. Where do you want me to unload 'em??'

That was a joke. But the following cases, if true, were not...

'I have heard stories of a gynaecologist in private hospital convincing a patient to have a caesarean when a normal birth would do.'

'My late friend, warded in a private hospital for severe abdominal pain, was persuaded to undergo a series of specialist tests before he was diagnosed to have advance-stage cancer. His daughter had to pick up a big, fat bill.

Be careful. Always get 2nd opinion before agreeing to treatment.'

There are ethical specialists around and they are hard to find - you’ll need reliable references to find them.

Ask a trusted GP you know whether he would have members of his own family treated by the specialists he recommends.

Here’s another recent example :

"A 91 year old woman was admitted to a posh private hospital in KL with symptoms of being “weak and unwell“ and after a battery of tests including a CT scan and an array of so-called specialists who were called to consult on this “difficult case”, Surprise, surprise – what did they find ?  ZILCH !!

Final Diagnosis:  Old age... Absolutely Brilliant! Final Bill:  RM 25,000."


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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous8:54 am

    My friend's MIL complained about a pain in the lower back. The old lady was made to undergo a series of painful and costly operation to her spinal cord and then lost the function of her lower limbs. Later it diagnosed that she had kidney stones. It was the stones that caused the pain.
    Yes get a second opinion by all means, especially if a surgical procedure is recommended.

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