The Contagion of Misdiagnoses
We hear news reports continually of hospital-acquired infections. Nothing particularly new about that; hospitals, while being institutions where medical and surgical practises are refined and professionally provided for the purpose of alleviating physical ills, are also places where germs and sometimes-deadly bacteria accumulate. Particularly with operating cut-backs leading to less strenuous attention to hygienic imperatives.
Hospitals are crowded with - sick people - and communicable diseases can be communicated - along with germs, and bacteria. And of course, there is always the matter of human nature and laxities of various kinds, from adequate and frequent hand-washing to ensure germs are not passed from patient to patient and insufficient staff to ensure that each patient is given the time and attention that should be allotted to them in recognition of their medical-health condition.
Perhaps the absolute worst thing that can occur to a patient is that he/she is admitted in an emergency situation, suffering acute and painful symptoms, and the examining doctor can find nothing wrong, or issues an incorrect diagnosis, sending that patient home to fend for themselves. In the case of a woman who admitted herself to the Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus repeatedly, an incorrect diagnosis could have led to her death.
A doctor's proficiency at his craft first and foremost reflects his/her ability to correctly diagnose a medical condition. All else flows from that correct diagnosis. Or incorrect one, as the case may be. In the case of Aileen Liang, she exhibited symptoms that should have alerted medical personnel, including a gynaecologist, that she was suffering from a drug-resistant bacterium, Clostridium difficile.
Because she was repeatedly misdiagnosed, she suffered dreadful nausea, diarrhea, painful cramping, but was sent along home with a prescription for antibiotics. And her condition continued to deteriorate. It was when, finally, she attended the General campus of the Ottawa Hospital that more sensitively-attuned doctors diagnosed her correctly and she was able to obtain proper treatment.
There is no excuse for this kind of sloppy work on the part of medical professionals. Period.
Hospitals are crowded with - sick people - and communicable diseases can be communicated - along with germs, and bacteria. And of course, there is always the matter of human nature and laxities of various kinds, from adequate and frequent hand-washing to ensure germs are not passed from patient to patient and insufficient staff to ensure that each patient is given the time and attention that should be allotted to them in recognition of their medical-health condition.
Perhaps the absolute worst thing that can occur to a patient is that he/she is admitted in an emergency situation, suffering acute and painful symptoms, and the examining doctor can find nothing wrong, or issues an incorrect diagnosis, sending that patient home to fend for themselves. In the case of a woman who admitted herself to the Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus repeatedly, an incorrect diagnosis could have led to her death.
A doctor's proficiency at his craft first and foremost reflects his/her ability to correctly diagnose a medical condition. All else flows from that correct diagnosis. Or incorrect one, as the case may be. In the case of Aileen Liang, she exhibited symptoms that should have alerted medical personnel, including a gynaecologist, that she was suffering from a drug-resistant bacterium, Clostridium difficile.
Because she was repeatedly misdiagnosed, she suffered dreadful nausea, diarrhea, painful cramping, but was sent along home with a prescription for antibiotics. And her condition continued to deteriorate. It was when, finally, she attended the General campus of the Ottawa Hospital that more sensitively-attuned doctors diagnosed her correctly and she was able to obtain proper treatment.
There is no excuse for this kind of sloppy work on the part of medical professionals. Period.
Labels: Health, Human Relations, Ottawa
posted by Pieface @ 7:05 PM
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