I see a lot of posts on this thread blaming overworked, tired, well-meaning professionals that just can't do right, but I think you hit the nail on the head. In my experience, arrogant pricks are just attracted to becoming medical doctors.
I haven't gone to the hospital or doctors too much in my life, but every time, I come away astonished at their attitude, and wondering how is it that people can call a doctor a hero. When I went to the hospital to get my gall bladder taken out, I was in the worst pain of my life. I needed pain killers, and could hardly talk, and they spent 10 minutes getting my billing information before a doctor would even see me. When the doctor finally game in, I wasn't screaming or anything, even though I wanted to, just curled up in a ball, and the doctor rolled his eyes at me like a teenage girl - I instantly became more scared of being cut opened by one of these assholes than of the pain I was in.
Before this, I had been misdiagnosed several times - I had to figure out it was my gall bladder from Google, and work hard to convince my doctor to even explore the possibility it was my gall bladder. I had to TELL HIM that not all gall stones are visible on an ultrasound. Before that, I had minor bladder issues, which the doctors turned in to a major issue by constantly putting catheters up me, and prescribing me several medicines to "see if they work" even though they all said to not take if I was experiencing the exact same symptoms that I had told them about.
I almost had a surgery for the problem - my doctor would always tell me that the surgeon would discuss possible side effects before the surgery - I was trying to get info at least days before the surgery, so I could sleep on it and make an informed decision, but I wasn't able to talk to him until right before they were going to put me under. When I continued to press him for questions, he was huffing and puffing, like a teenage girl, any other grown man would have been embarrassed to act like that. After pressing him, I finally found out that a very likely side effect of the surgery would have put me in a much worse situation that the problem they were going to fix - it would have turned minor but annoying irritation into me needing to wear adult diapers for the rest of my life! And he was visibly angry for having to tell me that! Of course, I canceled the surgery.
I could go on and on, like how I was lied to about my bill, telling me it would be around $250, but was really $2000, for tests that i didn't want, and knew would come up negative, or how my daughter was born early but healthy, and simply in the NICU for observation for 2 weeks, at $5000 a DAY, sitting in an OLD incubator, with one nurse watching a few kids. I, for one, can't WAIT until WATSON takes all their jobs.
I very recently went to an ER, had absolutely mind-blowing levels of pain, got in right away (the ETA #s shown live on their site probably went down, that fast), only to be told I needed:
-Brain CT
-Cervical spine CT
-3 or 4 X-rays
I asked how much a might cost, having no insurance -- to which the lady looked at me like I was nuts; I just figured, hey, let's start with X-rays and go from there... Her actual answer was "I don't know, I can call the billing department if you'd like?" I was partially embarrassed, mostly just in pain, and frankly ready for some actual guidance/help. I basically just said "Okay, whatever, go go go, figure out what is wrong with me now!". No idea what it'll have cost yet, I'm putting the over/under at $3.4k though, heh.
I ended up leaving in more pain than I arrived in; after I suggested some possibilities based on Google they, seriously, looked it up on YouTube including how to test me for it (TOS / Thoracic Outlet Syndrome), then proceeded to give me an injection of muscle relaxer which didn't help at all, and then released me. I'd have been better off taking another 4-8 ibuprofens at home.
Thankfully I do actually have a fantastic, dedicated, caring, highly intelligent doctor who I saw right away on Monday -- severely herniated cervical disk (MRI imaging is amazing BTW).
Idk if I look like a drug junkie or what, but that was one of the worst days my life for both myself & my wife.
Yup, Google literally saved my life. If it were up to both doctors (yup, I did get a second opinion), I would be dead today.
My condition is neither rare nor difficult to diagnose. My symptoms might as well have been lifted from a textbook.
My family member wasn't so lucky and died due to: a) Doctors again unwilling to diagnose in time until symptoms were impossible to ignore. b) They abandoned a treatment that was working for one that didn't. -- Not to mention that time he almost died during treatment because of a medication dosage mixup.
It's an industry run by imbeciles. Those within it who want reform are met with so much resistance it's maddening -- just having these stats out in the open is a triumph. I too can't wait to see the day a piece of software knocks them off their high horse.
I haven't gone to the hospital or doctors too much in my life, but every time, I come away astonished at their attitude, and wondering how is it that people can call a doctor a hero. When I went to the hospital to get my gall bladder taken out, I was in the worst pain of my life. I needed pain killers, and could hardly talk, and they spent 10 minutes getting my billing information before a doctor would even see me. When the doctor finally game in, I wasn't screaming or anything, even though I wanted to, just curled up in a ball, and the doctor rolled his eyes at me like a teenage girl - I instantly became more scared of being cut opened by one of these assholes than of the pain I was in.
Before this, I had been misdiagnosed several times - I had to figure out it was my gall bladder from Google, and work hard to convince my doctor to even explore the possibility it was my gall bladder. I had to TELL HIM that not all gall stones are visible on an ultrasound. Before that, I had minor bladder issues, which the doctors turned in to a major issue by constantly putting catheters up me, and prescribing me several medicines to "see if they work" even though they all said to not take if I was experiencing the exact same symptoms that I had told them about.
I almost had a surgery for the problem - my doctor would always tell me that the surgeon would discuss possible side effects before the surgery - I was trying to get info at least days before the surgery, so I could sleep on it and make an informed decision, but I wasn't able to talk to him until right before they were going to put me under. When I continued to press him for questions, he was huffing and puffing, like a teenage girl, any other grown man would have been embarrassed to act like that. After pressing him, I finally found out that a very likely side effect of the surgery would have put me in a much worse situation that the problem they were going to fix - it would have turned minor but annoying irritation into me needing to wear adult diapers for the rest of my life! And he was visibly angry for having to tell me that! Of course, I canceled the surgery.
I could go on and on, like how I was lied to about my bill, telling me it would be around $250, but was really $2000, for tests that i didn't want, and knew would come up negative, or how my daughter was born early but healthy, and simply in the NICU for observation for 2 weeks, at $5000 a DAY, sitting in an OLD incubator, with one nurse watching a few kids. I, for one, can't WAIT until WATSON takes all their jobs.