There is an
absolutely massive literature now on the danger to your health posed
by the U.S. medical industry and I am always glad to see any sign of
help or even acknowledgement of the need of help in the situation. So
I enjoyed finding Trisha Torrey's recent book entitled “You
Bet Your Life! The 10 Mistakes Every Patient Makes.”
Trisha Torrey is a
professional Patient Advocate – I didn't even know such a
profession existed: people who will go to the hospital with you to
fight for you. An old friend who was a professional nurse asked me
when she heard that I had had a major injury in the hospital, “Didn't
you have anyone to go with you to fight for you?”
Here are seven of
the mistakes on Torrey's list of ten:
#1 Thinking your
healthcare is focused on you, the patient.
#2. Thinking the
doctors put their patients' needs first.
#3. Not confirming
your diagnosis with a second or third opinion.
#4. Thinking you've
been told all about your treatment options.
#5. Thinking you are
safe in the hands of the healthcare system.
#6. Not
understanding the reach or risk of medical records.
#7. Spending time in
the hospital unless it's absolutely necessary.
My own conclusion
from reading the such literature is that our chances are greater of
being harmed rather than helped by the U.S. medical industry, but
that we take that chance because of hope. Becoming aware of the ways
it can harm us is shocking, overthrowing so much of what we have
assumed or believed in the past, but I find it useful and infinitely
restoring after my own recent experience in a hospital.
