Last Tuesday I watched an episode of Oprah that I found very interesting. It was on medical mistakes. I was shocked at the severity of the medical mistakes that were being routinely made for things like removing the wrong organs, operating on the wrong side of the body and giving the wrong medications to patients. Since this blog is all about protecting your health I thought that medical mistakes would make a good topic for discussion.
The first piece of advice that was given in this episode of Oprah by Dr. Oz was that you have to be your own advocate. This means speaking up for yourself and demanding the medical professionals that are caring for you to treat you like you matter. This includes asking them to wash their hands, to remove rings and other jewelry and to tuck in their neckties when examining or treating you. It also means seeking second and third opinions for medical treatments when you don’t agree with the recommendations made by your physician.
Another piece of advice that can help you to reduce your chances of needing long term care because of a medical mistake is to take steps to ensure you get the appropriate treatments. For example, Dr. Oz recommended that you write on your body which side to operate on and which side not to operate on. He said that you can write “cut here” on the side of your body that is supposed to be operated on and “don’t cut here” on the side that is not slated for surgery. These small steps can save you a lot of grief, pain and complications.
