Do you think doctors get things wrong with people more than we know?

Not really, no. I’ve had very good care with all of the doctors that I have been in contact with. Obviously, there are always going to be cases where malpractice has happened, but it’s the exception, not the rule.

Not so much. I do feel that more and more people are developing severe superbug infections and dying from them. But the hospitals and the CDC don’t want you to know that so that people will not become afraid of going to hospitals.

I think doctors do make mistakes. There are a lot of doctors out there and a lot of patients visiting them. Doctors are often overworked and are either seeing a lot of patients in their practices or hospitals or dealing with crisis situations in our emergency rooms.

As to medications, I think that’s why it’s important we have good pharmacists who should have the ability to question a prescription if it looks wrong. I also think patients need to ask questions if they are unsure about the medicine’s they’ve been given.

I’d say yes. Considering they use medicine to help them decide a diagnosis. It can be hit and miss. My mother suffered severe brain damage through a doctor’s misdiagnosis.

Yes.

More than “we know”? What do you mean?

Doctors are often wrong (or just uncertain) about non-obvious things, and some of us, including good doctors, know that. Humans are complicated and doctors make educated guesses. Some conditions are straightforward and others aren’t. Not all conditions or even diagnosed diseases have simple known solutions.

And then we have the less-than-great doctors who succumb to all the attempts to get them to subscribe pharmaceutical medicines for everything.

Yes, and they cover for each other.

If you get a bad diagnosis and treatment and then see someone else for a different outcome, it’s very unlikely that Dr. Successor will tell you anything negative about his/her predecessor. Doing so is viewed as unprofessional behavior – undermining patient trust, compromising care, and blame-shifting. Also, because medical practice is as much an art as a science, it’s considered wise not to second-guess a colleague’s judgment and to assume it was made responsibly.

There are arguments pro/con keeping quiet v. sharing observations. Personally, I dislike being treated like a child and will always want more information.