Letter to the editor: Holding medical facilities accountable

Published 4:00 pm Monday, September 30, 2019

“If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty.” – Modern Hippocratic Oath, Louis Lasagna

Dear editor,

When you entrust your loved one into the care of a physician, surgeon or medical facility, you have the expectation that the words above are a precept that is practiced and used as the basis of all decisions, which are made daily in treatment, care and recovery of one whom you hold most dear.

I received quite an education during the last few months of 2018 into January of 2019 from interacting with the medical industry.

The first thing that I learned was that “industry” is the correct designation as the mark-up on commonly found items would make a used car salesman blush. Also, like junior vice presidents in corporate America, there were job positions I found to be questionable in necessity and efficiency – all billing for their time, at top dollar, whether it be three minutes or 15 minutes.

However, the most poignant lesson I’ve learned is that the responsibility of practicing medicine is not being “faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty.” What I encountered was great hubris and awareness of the ignorance of patients and their families as an advantage to be exploited.

Because of this, transparency was a muddy concept bolstered by a general rule of not volunteering all of the information unless specifically asked, which many trusting individuals will not do.

I mean, your physician, surgeon or medical facility always has your best interests at heart and as the basis of their decisions, right? No, they really don’t.

My family truly suffered at their hands and the result was the loss of my father, due to mistakes that were made in the overall management of his care from the surgeon to the doctors rotating on and off the floor. I encourage folks to be very, very cautious when putting their faith in a medical facility.

Adelia Ladson,

Moultrie