Medical doctors are among the most highly-educated professionals in the United States. They typically have undergraduate degrees and medical school degrees. Their licensing mandates that they commit to continuing education where they learn about cutting-edge treatments and refresh their knowledge.
Naturally, patients trust their doctors and assume that they know best in a complex medical situation. Patients often defer to a physician’s diagnosis and may not speak up when they question a treatment plan. However, doctors are humans who are capable of making major mistakes with dire implications for their patients.
Empowered patients know when to speak up about their concerns. What do patients need to know as they evaluate a doctor’s diagnostic conclusions or treatment plan?
All doctors have a degree of bias
Humans do not grow up in a vacuum, free from outside of influence. The beliefs of their family members, the schools that they attend and even cultural beliefs influence how they treat people. Implicit bias is a serious issue in modern medicine.
Physicians may have deeply-held and inaccurate beliefs about the sexes, different races and specific religions. They may also allow prior experiences with other patients to influence how they handle certain situations. Doctors who seem dismissive about a patient’s self-reported symptoms or who do not seem compassionate as they develop a treatment plan may have allowed their personal bias to affect the care they provide.
Different people have different needs
There is a saying that people who have hammers see every problem as a nail. Doctors who have successfully treated certain symptoms with specific drug regimens or physical interventions may rely too much on those prior experiences.
They may not track cutting-edge options or explore alternatives that are less popular but equally effective. In case is where a doctor does not seem receptive to a patient’s requests regarding treatment or their questions about a diagnosis, the doctor may not have given the issue adequate consideration.
Patients may need to ask the doctor to make a note of their self-reported concerns regarding certain symptoms. They can ask the doctor to include notes about the test that they asked the doctor to perform or the treatment plan that they suggested.
Facing an obligation to include their rejection of those suggestions in medical notes may prompt doctors to reconsider their decisions. If nothing else, that information can help the patient if they seek a second opinion elsewhere. The unfortunate reality is that diagnostic errors and inappropriate treatment plans lead to poor outcomes for patients every day.
Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is a reasonable reaction when a doctor fails in one of their most basic duties and harm results. Patients who advocate for themselves can limit their risk of malpractice or can at least pursue justice effectively after experiencing medical malpractice.