Doctors as pushers

[timosman]

A recent real case.

A broken ankle after slipping gently on a wet surface outside without even falling.
The doctor suggests surgery, plates and bolts. (?!)
A dumb nurse is cheering. I have had one exactly like this! It is paid by the insurance anyway!
The patient says/thinks - are you guys nuts?
The doctor - well this will make sure the recovery will go as planned, otherwise there is a risk.
The patient - I will take the risk.

A week later another X-ray shows no problems. The bone is healing nice.

What is wrong with this picture?

[donnay]

A lot.

[MelissaWV]

It's missing the part where a second opinion is obtained.

[CaptUSA]

A recent real case.

A broken ankle after slipping gently on a wet surface outside without even falling.
The doctor suggests surgery, plates and bolts. (?!)
A dumb nurse is cheering. I have had one exactly like this! It is paid by the insurance anyway!
The patient says/thinks - are you guys nuts?
The doctor - well this will make sure the recovery will go as planned, otherwise there is a risk.
The patient - I will take the risk.

A week later another X-ray shows no problems. The bone is healing nice.

What is wrong with this picture?

With this picture? Nothing. The patient used his/her own brain and assumed his/her own risks. That's kinda the way it should be.

[timosman]

It's missing the part where a second opinion is obtained.

We are not talking brain surgery here.

[MelissaWV]

We are not talking brain surgery here.

No, just your personal mobility and potentially a lifetime of pain.

If you're not going to die from it, and you've already got the preliminary x-ray, and the alarm bells are going off (a nurse who tries to cheer you getting surgery is not a nurse you want to have), accept whatever prescriptions, decline surgery as an emergency procedure, and point out that you will follow up with the physician of your choice.

The patient used their brain, as CaptUSA pointed out, but if there's no second opinion that second x-ray could just as easily shown a more severe break that could no longer be appropriately addressed. Just because you've got idiots on your first visit doesn't make the prognosis wrong. It just means I really don't want those particular idiots setting or contributing to surgery on my ankle.

[Zippyjuan]

[RJB]

It seems that most people who break a bone now get surgery with plates and screws. A few years ago it seemed all they did was put a cast on it.

[Zippyjuan]

Probably depending on the beak but it helps line it up better which means it can heal faster and better.

[presence]

Drive a few screws into bone and a $500 xray and $200 cast tab turns into $35,000 surgery.

All dr has to say is it was "necessary" and insurance pays because regulatory capture.

Zero bid cost plus government contracts for all!

[donnay]

It seems that most people who break a bone now get surgery with a plates and screws. A few years ago it seemed all they did was put a cast on it.

Use to be that a GP could fix you up, now you have to go to the specialists.

[Lindsey]

I agreed to metal in my foot while heavily drugged. If I wasn't hospitalized, and loaded with IV painkillers, and was able to research before making my decision, I may not have made the same decision. It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life - I have a plate and about 12 screws in my foot. It left me with very little mobility and a lot of arthritis in that foot/ankle - not to mention the HA-MRSA and all those complications.

My DH had a much more serious injury to his foot/ankle, which healed naturally. He has slight reduction in his range of motion and minor pain. His foot healed much better than mine did and he didn't end up with MRSA.

My advice to all: avoid unnecessary procedures.

[fisharmor]

I was just thinking the other day,
I don't even have TV signal in my home... I don't get to see commercials like other people do...
and I'm pretty sure even I've seen more pharmaceutical commercials in the last three years, than the sum total of all those "just say no" ads I saw that ran for at least two decades.

[timosman]

I agreed to metal in my foot while heavily drugged. If I wasn't hospitalized, and loaded with IV painkillers, and was able to research before making my decision, I may not have made the same decision. It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life - I have a plate and about 12 screws in my foot. It left me with very little mobility and a lot of arthritis in that foot/ankle - not to mention the HA-MRSA and all those complications.

My DH had a much more serious injury to his foot/ankle, which healed naturally. He has slight reduction in his range of motion and minor pain. His foot healed much better than mine did and he didn't end up with MRSA.

My advice to all: avoid unnecessary procedures.

Can you tell us how is your experience going through the airport security now?

[timosman]

If you're not going to die from it, and you've already got the preliminary x-ray, and the alarm bells are going off (a nurse who tries to cheer you getting surgery is not a nurse you want to have), accept whatever prescriptions, decline surgery as an emergency procedure, and point out that you will follow up with the physician of your choice.

The doctor was an orthopedist. The visit to the emergency room happened a bit earlier in the same hospital. Of course each doctor had to install its own cast and take a separate set of X-rays.

[Lindsey]

Can you tell us how is your experience going through the airport security now?

I never have a problem, but I've only ever been through the "porno scanner" since the accident; I have yet to go through a standard metal detector. I take Amtrak whenever possible, so I've only flown maybe half a dozen times with the metal.

[Brian4Liberty]

Doctors, dentists, auto mechanics, home contractors all have the same tendency to use their expertise and consumer's urgency and lack of knowledge for their own profit via unnecessary but expensive services.

[timosman]

Doctors, dentists, auto mechanics, home contractors all have the same tendency to use their expertise and consumer's urgency and lack of knowledge for their own profit via unnecessary but expensive services.

Doctors however, have the added advantage of a white coat. For most people it is enough to convince them they are dealing with an infallible creature.

[Brian4Liberty]

Doctors however, have the added advantage of a white coat. For most people it is enough to convince them they are dealing with an infallible creature.

Then there's the fact that if you object in any way to their authority, the Police and security will enforce their edicts. Plus there's the humiliation factor. How many places are you forced to strip naked and walk around like that? Let's see, that would be jails, prisons, concentration camps and hospitals.

[Zippyjuan]

Ron and Rand Paul are both doctors.

[timosman]

Ron and Rand Paul are both doctors.

What would we do without you, Zippy?

[donnay]

Ron and Rand Paul are both doctors.

They both have done a lot of pro-bono work as well. That's a whole different type of mentality to have when serving the needs of people.