One of the key complaints about the new health care plans is that they entrust many key decisions, both bureaucratic and health related, to government officials. However you feel about that, you may want to consider adding your own oversight to your medical care and the care of your loved ones.
A report has found that doctors in California who ought to have discipline brought against them by the California Medical Board (which would be responsible for marking files and withdrawing licenses) were only punished by their places of employment (hospitals, for example) despite more than a third of the “troubled doctors” already having accumulated more than one (often serious) infraction!
It’s not an isolated incident: nurses have also had their turn in the spotlight for committing unchecked malpractice and abuse of patients.
Why does this happen? Although California is perhaps a too-perfect example of a state mismanaging itself into bankruptcy, it’s an increasingly common problem: there are too few resources to meet even the most basic expectations (like not having doctors who’ve committed serious infractions).
The problem has numerous origins, and no single solution. In many places there’s a shortage of health care professionals (or, the problem might be taken a step back and phrased as a shortage of medical schools, since individual schools are limited to only producing a certain number of graduates).
In any case, find health care practitioners whom you trust, and when you’re family is hospitalized, look over their quality of care!
Have you had experiences with bad medical professionals?
