You may have heard about the woman who died on the emergency room floor at Martin Luther King Harbor Hospital in Los Angeles: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-06-13-911helpdenied_N.htm She was in great pain, writhing on the floor, yet the staff would ignore her, walk around her, step over her. Despite her obvious agony, and despite the fact that she […]
Making an End Run to Get the Help You Need Read More »
You see a surgeon, and she tells you you need surgery. You see an orthopedist and he tells you you need physical therapy. You see a chiropractor and she tells you you’ll need at least a dozen treatments. You see an oncologist and he tells you you’ll need chemotherapy or radiation. What’s wrong with these
Who Benefits from YOUR Medical Care? Read More »
Today is Father’s Day, and I can’t help but think about the huge influence my dad has had on who I am and why I do this work for you. It seems fitting to share them with you today. Dad gave me my name: I am Patricia Torrey, daughter of Richard and Betty (Stetson) Torrey.
Curiosity, Charity, Golf and more: Dad Taught Me How to Help You Read More »
Quite the exposé about oncologists and drug reimbursements is found in an article written by Alex Berenson in the New York Times. The crux of the story is that oncologists — cancer doctors — have the ability to profit from the drugs they prescribe for their patients. When they prescribe chemo, or any of the
Games Oncologists Play – and WE Pay Read More »
Ovarian Cancer is one of those topics I’ve blogged about previously, because my mother-in-law was diagnosed with it six months ago. Her diagnosis came after many months of complaints, mostly gastro-intestinal in nature. Despite her ongoing complaints, she was never diagnosed until she was hospitalized. At the age of 86, she underwent surgery (wrong, wrong
Ovarian Cancer, Condescension and Intuition Read More »
Sometimes my radio show conversations take a very unexpected turn — and yesterday’s post-air chat was no exception, although I have to say, this one surprised even me. I’ve been hearing stories from the dark side of medicine for more than 2-1/2 years, ever since I started by advocacy work. I thought I’d gotten a
The COSTS of Medical Records Errors and Lies Read More »
Now you think I’m going to blog about something medical for patients, right? Well — I will in a minute — but let me tell you where the idea came from for this morning’s post… At 2:30 this morning, I was awakened to a beeeep…… beeeep….. beeeeep….. It took me almost 10 minutes of searching
Digital Differential Diagnosis Read More »
Max Alexander paints a very frightening portrayal of nighttime in the hospital in the June 2007 Reader’s Digest. There is nothing condensed about the appalling stories he tells which have resulted in death, damage, pain and long term trauma. The story was forwarded to me by Helen Haskell, one of “us” — patients and loved
Hospital Night Terrors – Condensed Read More »
