BHCITW, N! 2
CNN is starting to get the message by presenting articles like this: Nurses offer tips for surviving a hospital stay. One of the highlight points is: “Medical errors kill up to 98,000 U.S. hospital patients a year.”
There are a few things I would add:
With a black marker, write your name and type of surgery on your body before they put you under, and include blood type and any major drug allergies. [suggested by a professor at a major medical school]
Displaying the card of a well-known malpractice attorney on your side table wouldn’t hurt.
Don’t depend on doctors or nurses remembering anything about you or your case, especially your chronic diseases or problems.
Keep your own medical history, including all diseases and surgeries, medications, allergies, etc. and take it with you if you are hospitalized. The hospital records are usually crap. Also verify that the ID band they put on your wrist is actually you. Be extremely careful if you have a common name, or a large family in the area.
Keep in mind that medicine is a business and one of the few for which you are expected to pay, even if the work is worthless. If a plumber doesn’t fix the leak, s/he doesn’t get paid, but doctors expect their money even if the “customer” dies.
