Errors made by doctors in office settings play a role in almost 60 percent of situations where patients are injured by missed or delayed diagnoses, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
An examination of more than 300 medical malpractice claims revealed that 181 involved diagnostic errors.
Most of the cases involved cancer of one type or another, and 30 percent concerned situations that led to the death of the patient.
Mistakes by doctors included:
The leading factors that contributed to errors included failures in judgment, vigilance, memory, knowledge, patient-related factors or handoffs.
Commentators on the study have said that physicians need to err on the side of caution when it comes to diagnostic tests, detailed records and follow-up. Others have said that the research shows that doctors need more help in making decisions, whether from better electronic records, better evaluation techniques, or more use of nurse practitioners to ensure follow-up.
When I write about medical errors, often they're related to the many mistakes witnessed in a hospital setting. Sounds like doctors working in office have just as bad a record.
Clever manipulation of the official government death rates conceals the fact that the conventional medical system, not heart disease or cancer, is the leading cause of death in this country. Yet, in all fairness, physicians themselves are not the primary reason as they are under the pernicious influence of the multi-billion-dollar marketing umbrella of the drug companies.
Largely because of their influence, which is solely focused on selling more drugs and making more money, rather than actually curing patients, the conventional medical paradigm is fatally flawed.
The sad tragedy is that we are spending an obscene amount on progressively increasing insurance premiums for a system that is based on disease management focused on drugs and surgery. Our return on the $2-trillion investment in the United States clearly seems unjustified.
Unless ...
You are one of the entities that receive the benefit, like many of the multi-national drug companies.
Progressively increasing percentages of the population simply do not have the energy they need to get through the day, while millions of others are suffering with painful crippling diseases because they have violated basic health principles.
The bottom line is that the system is crumbling before our eyes.
Our country simply cannot afford this nightmare mess and gets nothing -- except lining the pockets of pharmaceutical companies -- in return.
But there is a single silver lining, as studies like the one above underscore without a doubt that patients must take better responsibility for their own health, especially when they rely on the fatally flawed excuse that passes for conventional health care in America. If you want to take a giant step toward better health for you and your family, as well as eliminate your dependence on the dishonest and harmful health care system, please consider my nutrition program.