Comments on: Medicine vs. Profits http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/07/13/medicine-vs-profits/ "You never paint what you see or think you see. You paint with a thousand vibrations the blow that struck you." --Nicholas de Stael Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:31:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: heather http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/07/13/medicine-vs-profits/#comment-902 heather Sat, 14 Jul 2007 09:31:19 +0000 http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/07/13/medicine-vs-profits/#comment-902 He's... pretty lackadaisical. I stuck with him for this long for several simple reasons. The ability to drop in as a walk-in was really convenient sometimes given the occasional unpredictability of my husband's work schedule; it was worth the long waits before now. I also know enough by now about my own medical peculiarities that I could sanity check anything he did or suggested, particularly as my first reaction upon being given a prescription is to immediately look up anything and everything I can find out about it. And finally, as you said, it's so tough to find the right doctor that honestly, I just didn't want to deal. I've had a couple of really great doctors over the years, and I've had a couple who fairly messed me up. (One who even eventually got barred from the hospital in his area for repeated misdiagnoses.) I'm kind of an odd patient. I get weird reactions to medications, and I have a ton of allergies and sensitivities. I need a doctor who's willing to rub two brain cells together, who communicates well, and who doesn't dismiss me out of hand when I tell him I've had a reaction to something that past experience tells him people shouldn't have. The one and only good thing this doctor had going for him was that he did listen; I've met doctors who seemed to have you evaluated and diagnosed before word one came out of your mouth, and nothing you said that contradicted their opinion would get taken seriously. So, yeah, I kinda dread having to hunt down a new doctor, because I don't know how many I'll go through before I find a good one. I still need to hunt down a new psychiatrist for the same reason---the last one I had pretty clearly just cared about writing her prescriptions and getting her patients out the door so she could get back to her latte, and I've just been getting my meds from my regular doctor for the past year or so. h He’s… pretty lackadaisical. I stuck with him for this long for several simple reasons. The ability to drop in as a walk-in was really convenient sometimes given the occasional unpredictability of my husband’s work schedule; it was worth the long waits before now. I also know enough by now about my own medical peculiarities that I could sanity check anything he did or suggested, particularly as my first reaction upon being given a prescription is to immediately look up anything and everything I can find out about it. And finally, as you said, it’s so tough to find the right doctor that honestly, I just didn’t want to deal. I’ve had a couple of really great doctors over the years, and I’ve had a couple who fairly messed me up. (One who even eventually got barred from the hospital in his area for repeated misdiagnoses.)

I’m kind of an odd patient. I get weird reactions to medications, and I have a ton of allergies and sensitivities. I need a doctor who’s willing to rub two brain cells together, who communicates well, and who doesn’t dismiss me out of hand when I tell him I’ve had a reaction to something that past experience tells him people shouldn’t have. The one and only good thing this doctor had going for him was that he did listen; I’ve met doctors who seemed to have you evaluated and diagnosed before word one came out of your mouth, and nothing you said that contradicted their opinion would get taken seriously.

So, yeah, I kinda dread having to hunt down a new doctor, because I don’t know how many I’ll go through before I find a good one. I still need to hunt down a new psychiatrist for the same reason—the last one I had pretty clearly just cared about writing her prescriptions and getting her patients out the door so she could get back to her latte, and I’ve just been getting my meds from my regular doctor for the past year or so.

h

]]> By: Chessack http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/07/13/medicine-vs-profits/#comment-885 Chessack Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:13:02 +0000 http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/07/13/medicine-vs-profits/#comment-885 That is really pathetic. I hope he at least treated you properly when he finally saw you. I would definitely look elsewhere if I were you. It's tough though. Fortunately I have not needed medical attention much over recent years, but the few times I have, it is very hit and miss. Some doctors seem to really be on the ball, and others... not so much. Finding one of the former ones can be like looking for a needle in a hay stack sometimes. C That is really pathetic. I hope he at least treated you properly when he finally saw you. I would definitely look elsewhere if I were you.

It’s tough though. Fortunately I have not needed medical attention much over recent years, but the few times I have, it is very hit and miss. Some doctors seem to really be on the ball, and others… not so much. Finding one of the former ones can be like looking for a needle in a hay stack sometimes.

C

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