If you've had a reason to visit a doctor lately, chances are you've felt rushed or even ignored by your physician. Studies, both formal and informal, show that Americans are becoming more dissatisfied with their doctors and that the bond of trust that is the basis for the doctor-patient relationship is being eroded. And when patients don't trust their doctors, or when doctors don't listen to their patients, tragedy can result.
That's what happened to a 38-year-old Washington D.C. university professor. For years, he complained to his doctor of various symptoms: weight loss, high blood pressure, a rib fracture. The doctor dealt with each complaint individually but failed to see the big picture. Eventually, at the insistence of the patient's wife, the doctor ordered and MRI, which revealed kidney cancer. The patient died three months later.
Hurried, distracted doctors can put their patients' health in serious jeopardy. Our office is currently investigating a claim in which a patient complained of left-sided flank pain. Her doctor performed a left simple nephrectomy for the purpose of removing her left kidney, which he thought to be the cause of the problem. However, the patient had a congenital abnormality known as a horseshoe kidney, and the doctor removed ALL of the patient's kidney tissue despite having access to a CT scan that showed the patient's horseshoe kidney.
The doctor-patient relationship is the foundation of good patient care. When patients feel like an annoyance rather than an actual human being, important diagnoses can be missed and lives changed forever.
