Puerto Rican Doctors Laughing in Photos With Haitian Victims
It seems that 60 or so PR doctors thought it would be a good idea to pose with Haitian Earthquake victims holding soldiers guns and having a great time doing it.
Some were holding beers, condoms, and saws next to people who were bloody, hurt, and half dressed.
Puerto Rico is investigating the doctors for ethics vialations. They say they have already punished the soldiers who offered up their guns to the docs to pose for these photos.
Some of the Haitian earthquake victims were transported to the Dominican Republic and about 60 doctors from PR went there to aid these people.
Maybe someone should explain to the “doctors” what aid really means.
To me and I’m sure many others around the world this is beyond ethics violations. It’s heartless, inhumane, and unforgivable. I certainly would not see a doctor who thought this kind of human suffering was funny or see it as a photogenic moment.
You might say this is a mere handful of doctors out of thousands, but who knows how many more that are this way and just haven’t gotten caught yet?
England Waiting for Verdict in 2007 Case of Suicide and Bullying
In 2007 a mother and her 18 year old daughter who had a severe learning disability, committed suicide by sitting in their car and setting fire to it. They are survived by a now 19 year old son who is fighting dyslexia.
As I understand the story, the family was often the target of a gang of 16 teens who constantly threw rocks and eggs at their home and in general made life a living hell for this family. Obviously the attacks and abuse were so severe they simply could not live through it anymore.
The problem is that this mother tried to get help from authorities who not only didn’t take it seriously enough, but also wanted the family to take responsibility for the attacks themselves. They know the mom was suicidal yet no one thought to sit down with them and listen to her and maybe even do something about it.
The same thing occurs here time after time. The victims of bullying are ignored till some of them snap and either kill themselves or take revenge out on others. Then we talk about the poor victims, some of whom might have been the bullies or even those who watched and observed the bullying and did or said nothing. It’s a disgrace.
Doctors and Gods
Most people won’t admit this, but doctors are often treated like gods, or least the pope in the respect that they think they are infallible, that is until a mistake happens. Most doctors are very dedicated to their patients and to doing the best they can to keep them healthy, cure them of disease, and extend their lives.
These same people tend to put all their faith and responsibility into their doctors which I believe is a wrong approach to health care. We as the public need to take some responsibility for our own health by learning how our bodies work and how injuries and illnesses are treated.
If you have some doubts about the treatment or diagnosis you are getting from your doctor don’t be afraid to question it or get a second opinion.
A number of years ago I cut my hand and got 8 stitches at the E.R.. That doctor explained to me that he gave me one continuous stitch instead of 8 individual stitches and that when I went to my doctor it was important to let them know that. I didn’t have a regular doctor so one was recommended to me. When it came time to get them out I went to the doctor and told her what the ER doctor had said. She then began to remove the stitches by snipping the first one and pulling on it. She pulled and pulled and the more she did so, the more pain I was in. She then went and got another older doctor to look at it and he did the same thing, even after I repeated what the ER doctor had said. I was in agony and my hand began to bleed. He then told me and the woman doctor that my cut was probably not ready to have the stitiches out yet. They covered it up and told me to come back in a few days. They also billed me for a hundred dollars.
Of course I went home and simple snipped them one by one and gently pulled them out, painlessly and easily. The point is they don’t all know what they are doing, and no, I did not pay that one hundred dollar bill.
The VA Sends Bad News To Vets by Mistake
A glitch in the computer system at the VA sent out letters by accident to about 1200 Vets, telling them that they have ALS or more popularly known as Lou Gehrigs Disease. This disease is fatal and affects the muscles in the body.
Many of these vets have already spent up to $3000 of their own money to get second opinions to see if they really had the illness.
Some vets have called a Gulf War Vets Group who looked into this. They want the VA to reimburse those that have shelled out money for second opinions, and to retest those that have not had second opinions yet.
Getting a letter with that kind of news has to not only be scary , but devestating as well. The vets that got those letters do deserve the VA putting this right, computer error or not.
Medical Residents and Sleep
I have watched my share of medical shows on TV and one of the things you learn from these shows is that doctors in training work very long shifts, somtimes 24, 36, or even more hours straight. That has always worried me. As a patient walking into an ER, I don’t want an overtired doctor working on me.
There are plenty of other jobs where there are limits on the amount of hours they can work in a shift and in a pay period, like airline pilots, air traffic control, and truck driviers, to name a few. Seems to me doctors should be right up there in that list.
Beside money, which is always the very bottom line, the other reasoning for these long shifts is that when a person comes in and is seen by one of the doctors, tests have to be done and most of the time these tests take hours. If a doctor or resident only works 8 to 10 hour shifts, they may be off duty by the time the test results come back, which means another doctor would be on duty and not familiar with the case.
I’m not sure whether I agree that it’s a valid point for working long shifts, but I do know that I find it troublesome that doctors know the body needs the proper amount of sleep and yet they go about life without it themselves.
They do have restictions on shift hours, however they are still too long, and if one life is lost because of this it’s one life too many. Stick to a max of 16 hours at a time, and call it a day.
When a Medical Test Makes You Sick
This story involves the Veterans Administration Hospitals in several states and colonoscopies done without the tubing on the equipment being properly sterilized.
How would you like to be told that the colonoscopy you had five years ago may have had body fluids from another person on the equipment that was inserted into your body, and that you now have to get tested for HIV, and hepititis.
They are saying that the tubing on the machine was cleaned only at the end of the day and not in between patients, and that some of these machines had wrong valves on them that could promote contamination.
The VA seems none too willing to discuss this but hundreds of people are having to now be tested for diseases they may have picked up from the VA hospitals. If you have had a colonoscopy within the past five years at a Veterans Hospital call and find out if you need to come in for some additional testing. Remember, better safe than sorry.
Final Thoughts On Hospice
It’s been a while since my last post because I’ve lost both my parents. My mother unexpectedly died December 2 morning, and my father died December 4.
We had hospice take my dad to a hospice unit in a hospital, where they were better staffed and equiped to care for him. I believe that my mother felt so much better and relaxed that he was being taken care of, she just let go of her own struggle.
I spent the afternoon with my dad the next day and brought him a nice picture of mom. My sister and I saw he was suffering so much we told him mom went peacefully in her sleep and it was time for him to let go and be with her. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do. Hours later he took his last breath.
He was cleaned and turned on his side when we visisted him, however when I asked when the last time he got his morphine was they responded 10:30 that morning, it was after 1:00 in the afternoon. When I pointed that out, the hospice nurse said he was resting comfortably. The man was given no food and water and could not speak or hardly even moan. He was far to weak to move even a finger.
I told her that just because he can’t tell you he’s in pain doesn’t mean he isn’t and she better go get some morphine for him unless she wanted me to do the scene from “Terms of Endearment” where Shirley McClaine has to scream for her daughters meds. She immediately got the meds and administered them to him. That made me wonder how they cared for him during the long night when we weren’t there. His mouth was so dry and cracked from lack of moisture. He couldn’t swallow they said but he could have someone wet a cloth and wipe the inside of his mouth and lips. We did it for him while we were there but what did they do? I don’t know, I’ll never know.
What Do You Think Of This Theory?
Please forgive me for getting sidetracked with my families health issues, but it got me to wondering why the hospital my parents are going to is so underpar, and the one we go to is so much better. Also still trying to figure out about the 2 to 3 month wait for the colonoscopy, and then it came to me.
First let me say I could be way out of line here but…here are the thoughts I have;
- We live in the suburbs of Chicago, my folks live closer to the city than I do by about 15 miles.
- The population of Chicago has been growing and changing for the last 20 years.
- The city’s hospital which was known as Cook County may have superb doctors and care but it’s a pit. I know this as a fact since my daughter had to go to the ER there a few months ago. My kids witnessed drug deals being conducted there, a pigeon flying around the room and people just camping out there for somewhere to go. They said it was filthy and disgusting.
- Because my parents live closer to the city, the population of Chicago is now in their area. Most are Mexican and I bet dollars to donuts that a great number of them do not have health insurance, and a fair amount of them are probably illegal. This is not a put down since I do not carry health insurance either because of cost. Since this population change they go to this hospital and the hospital has had to make changes to take in all these people. My parents waited over 11 hours last week for my mother to get a bed, and the only reason they got one then was because my father threatened just to take my mom back home.
So the theory is that the growing number of uninsured does not only effect the cost for everyone else but also the quality of care that they get, insurance or not. My parents have good insurance through my dads pension and I gather they cannot change their doctor, and their doctor works out of this overcrowded, overworked, hospital that is now trying to take care of twice as many people as they were meant to take care of. This possible future of health care for everyone should scare the you know what out of you, because I don’t see an end in sight. As weak as my father is, I wonder if he will survive the 2 or 3 months wait for the test. Any comments on this?
Our Recent Hospital Stays
My mother was just in the hospital last weekend and told me that her room mate was so disgusted with the level of her care and the way she was treated, that she packed her clothes and walked out. A couple of doctors tried to stop her and convince her to stay but she said she couldn’t take it anymore and left. I don’t know the details but how bad must they have let her feel for her to want to leave rather than be treated for whatever illness she had.
My mother also asked those same two doctors to take a look at the bottom of her foot. A couple weeks ago she stood up and as soon as she put some weight on it she felt pain like a nail being driven through her foot and up her leg. The doctors ignored her and left without looking at the foot. Then a woman came in the room, my mother doesn’t know if she was a nurse or a doctor, but she did look at the foot and told my mother that the skin had split from the heel to the toes and that was the reason for the pain. The woman left and returned with a tube of white cream which she then massaged into the crack. The pain left immediately even with standing. She let her have the tube to take home. I guess it was to small a thing for the almighty doctors to bother with.
My mom has had to be in the hospital a lot lately and this particular one is terrible. Every time she goes in there are some issues, mean and rough nurses, doctors that don’t care, and kitchens that can’t read menu orders. The rooms are so small that with the two beds there isn’t even room for more than one or two others to stand in the room.
In contrast only several miles away, my daughter had her baby at another hospital. She had a private room, and with the exception of one rough nurses aide, had nice nurses. Her doctors were interested and caring. They messed up the menu once and immediately corrected it. I stayed overnight with her the second night she was there and they were as nice to me as if I were also a patient. The little family lounge on the floor offered free coffee and tea and they ordered a couple dozen rolls and bagels for everyone every morning. I loved the cafateria, they had everything you could want, and in the middle of the night there were a dozen nooks and rooms with soft sofa’s and chairs that I could lounge on.
Both hospitals in the suburbs, but what made one so much better? Was it because one was a maternity stay and the other elderly? I don’t know, but I do know where I’ll have my next hospital stay.
Doctors and Empathy
Researchers looked at the relationships between 137 patients and their oncologists or thoracic surgeons and found that even when the patients seemed to ask or need some understanding their doctors were cold and unfeeling.
The doctors of course did respond to physical concerns about pain and things of that nature however they did not even try to satisfy patients emotional needs even when it was a matter of life or death.
These are examples of doctor/patient interactions from the archives of a Veterans hospital.
“Patient: But this is kind of overwhelming, you know…I’ve had anxiety problems before. I go to the [mental health clinic]…
Doctor: Okay.”
Here’s another,
“Patient: …I worked very hard when I was a young man, young boy. I was doing a man’s labor and was always told I had a good strong heart and lungs. But the lungs couldn’t withstand all that cigarettes…
Physician: Yeah.
Patient: …asbestos and pollution and second-hand smoke and all that other stuff, I guess.”
Physician: Do you have glaucoma?”
…and one more,
“Patient: I don’t know what the average person does in just two years, three years, a year?
Physician: I think that you certainly could live two or three years. I think it would be very unlikely … But I would say that an average figure would be several months to a year to a little bit more.”
At first it was thought that maybe the doctors weren’t responding because they were too busy, but it was found that other doctors who had empathy for their patients actually spent less time with them.
They suspect the real reason the doctors lack empathy is that they would then identify with patients they maybe could not save and would see themselves as failures. It’s also thought they may be reminded of their own mortality.
Quotes from Los Angeles Times