Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them

A book that is well worth the money it cost. Everyone should read it for the sake of themselves and family. It is very disturbing to read when I’m in my 70s. It certainly will make me be careful with health care in the future.

I just sent you a message on your e-mail link. Love your book so far. I worked in the medical field for many years in nursing homes and in private care. This book was a prophetic warning, and now, years later we are seeing that hand-washing and accountability are needed more than ever. I just read that the reason the nursing homes blew up with this virus is because the workers go from room to room taking care of many patients a night.

Is there any way you could find a publisher who would take on this book and get it out there. Maybe {The Conversation} news site could help get this word out. Is there any way you could find a publisher who could get this on the New York Best Sellers book club list?

I like the See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil page in your book. If I saw the Three Monkeys, that represent, what that phrase means, with a stethoscope hanging next to the words The Screw Ups our Dr.s and Nurses don’t talk about. I would buy it instantly especially with The Peoples Pharmacy underneath it with your names.

I believe this is a must-read for all patients who are receiving medications; that is, combinations of medications that may or may not be checked for their interactions. This is a frightening dilemma that is worth the effort to correct. Please do your part to correct this for all of us who need to maintain on a medication regimen.

I do check the subject matter of your email information. I did order this book through an Inter-Library Loan from our local library when it first came out. I do agree that the font and text of the book is very light and difficult to read. I have ordered the book again from the ILL to review, as the information contained in it was needed for we patients who have multiple health problems and take a number of prescription meds as well as OTC supplements, some suggested by specialist drs. I tried five different statins during the years cardiologists and drs. insisted this was a cure-all for cardiac problems. NOT! All five put me down on the couch with many side effects until I had myself tested by a NeuroPhysicist who declared I was probably one of the small 2% number of patients who should not take them. I told my drs. I was not going to take them again.

I have had to advocate for myself, one of our son’s, and my husband during serious health problems for many years. And have run up against drs. who appreciated the knowledge I gained by educating myself through reading and checking the Internet for information. And also others who do NOT appreciate patients who ask a lot of questions or tell the dr. they had found info somewhere other than them.

I have had other drs. & nurses who praised me for my knowledge and prep for an appt. by making typed questions and lists of meds in my computer which can be updated as necessary. So I am an involved and rather knowledgable patient and some nurses tell me if all patients would be more involved, it would make their work of preparing them for the drs. visit easier.

At 80+ years old, I feel some treatment I experienced from drs. and hospitals over the years, I am lucky to still be upright and living my life.

My primary dr. once told me “You read too much!” I have been known to challenge him and if this happens in this current times, some drs. will tell their patient “If you’re not going to do what I tell you to, then you’ll have to go somewhere else!” I’m sure that can be overdone that the patient leans on the dr. too much, but with the reduction of time that even insurance pays for, the drs. are finding their somewhat lucrative profession in the past is no longer the case. I would imagine a lot of them are ready to throw in the towel, and some do, and others find that running an office and having so many hospitals putting curbs on their participation in their patients care in favor of having “hospitalists” outsourced from some place else instead of the local drs. following their patients while in the hospital, it is hard on the patient to be taken care of by someone who has never seen them before and our primary physicians hands are tied to seeing us as infrequently as the insurance and other factors dictate. And those Electronic Records are a joke. There are so many mistakes, that even getting the hard copies of them, doesn’t give much info that the layperson can understand and I’m sure there are things in there that they say they’ve done during the patient’s stay that get charged for when some of it did not happen. That’s why patients should ask for itemized bills when they leave to be sent to them and check the charges. It will blow your mind in some cases. Hospitals like to build buildings and enlarge their campuses, but then restrict hiring better people who do the work of taking care of patients. There are uncalled for delays in reading and getting test records out, and excuses that they are so busy they are overloaded.

I usually obtain hard copies of all my medical records and check them for info for my questions, then write down all my info at each office visit with list of current meds, dosages, who ordered them and other info to keep current, and update this info in my computer to make printouts for the nurse. And they still make mistakes as viewed on the ‘encounter’ report given at the end of the visit. I am only one patient, but if all the mishaps that have happened over the years to me would be joined with many from other patients, one would have to wonder how any of us survive the care or hospital visit, let alone surgeries.

BUT, if you complain or try to get an appt. to ask about another problem in between your regularly scheduled dr. dictated ones, the dr. does not call you anymore, that would be his assistant or the receptionist relaying info to or from the dr. And oftimes, they forget something you have asked about. If you have multiple drs. sometimes, they say, “We’ll let Dr. So & So cover that with you.”

Soon you get the feeling that you would be better off finding a new dr. NOT SO EASY! If a dr. thinks you are too much to take care of, they would probably like to pass you off to someone else. That has happened here in our small town and it’s very hard to find or get an appt. with someone else.

Obamacare has not been the ‘boon’ that so many people thought it would be. I do not subscribe to it. I keep my old Medicare Plan, and BCBS which have been very fair with me for a long time. When they start changing the insurance, it usually leads to higher premiums and less benefits. Don’t let them fool you. I know of what I speak because I myself have had serious health problems, some of which drs. tried to ignore until they got more serious than need be before finally listening to me. I do not respect any dr. who won’t listen. I will respect one that will be honest if he can’t take care of a problem and is willing to refer me to the right people. It’s a crap shoot whatever way you look at it. Sorry this has been long, but we live in a much more complicated world today and even with all the technology available, there takes a lot of time to be sure things get taken care of.

Great Reading!! This book has been very helpful to me. Wish I had purchased this a long time ago.

It is a great book, but the print needs to be larger and darker. It is most likely seniors reading this book and most of them wear glasses. Even with my glasses it is hard to read.

Thank you for all the information you share with us.

Your book is timely and important. I’ve read two chapters since receiving it a few days ago. The topics are ones I’ve been following for years: overprescribing of dangerous drugs, unnecessary surgeries and procedures, no informed consent, no advice concerning non-drug, non surgery alternatives, no nutrition or lifestyle education, misdiagnoses. The treatment you give the subject is direct, factual and informative.

I think this subject matter would make an excellent documentary film. I’ve seen medical problems/errors/corruption films on various subjects, but your book ties together the main areas for concern in one place. I’m a licensed psychotherapist who has worked in many health industry settings – managed care, hospitals, private medical offices, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and community health care. I have seen superlative care given, but I have also seen a preponderance of ‘follow the money.’

The pharmaceutical industry is the biggest villain at present, in my book, followed by hospitals, followed by some private practice specialists. I’m sure rehabs and nursing homes belong on the beware! list as well. It’s sad, but true, as you write in your book, that hospitalized people require a family member or hired patient advocate who stays in the hospital with the person at all times. Wrong medication, wrong procedures, wrong diagnoses result when someone is left alone in a hospital in America.

I had two husbands suffer from hospital mistakes, misdiagnoses, and other funny business. My friend whose husband is a retired physician and went to a specialty university teaching hospital renowned for treating his kind of cancer just died. A doctor mistakenly injected him with twice the intended dose of a medication on his regime, causing him to go into cardiac arrest.

I am in health care and I found the book enlightening! As you stated, our primary care providers do not have all day long to diagnose us and we must get to the point! As well as being assertive. Especially now that we get all these junk generic medications from overseas. They could have the diagnosis right and the medication right, but the generic may not be doing what it is suppose to. Let your health care provider know!!!!

Very enlightening, and many of the anecdotes reflect my own experiences with doctors. I have already begun my list of questions for next month’s doctor appointment. Thanks for a book that needed to be written.

I have just received your book “Top Screwups Doctors Make”. This is a real eye-opener. Haven’t read too much as of now but it is really informative. Keep up the good work. I read your column every day and have learned so much about the medicines we take.

The book, “Top Screw-ups The Doctors Make,” is indispensable! It is truly a work of love, art, pain, truth, and insight as to what a lot of dirty bastards are doing out there in this world we call America. I can’t thank you enough for putting into print what a great deal of it has been suspected by me all along. You have my undying respect. I am so very glad I spent my money on this wonderful informative piece of literature.

I read your column everyday.

Very Appreciative of the First Amendment.

Ten Screw-ups Doctors Make

Thanks for your book. It has lots of good information. However, I am vision impaired and cannot read the book because it is printed in small letters that are VERY dim. It is almost like the printer was running out of ink. If the print were darker, I could read it, but as it is, I am having to have someone read it to me. I love your column and have some of your other books, but this one is just too dimly printed for me to read. In the future, you could help many vision impaired people like me by using a darker, bolder print. Thanks for providing a great service to all with your columns and programs.

A long-time fan.

It seems like the very minute your book arrived, all hell broke loose within our home. A variety of medical problems occurred, tests and doctors’ visits. From what I have managed to read thus far, it is an outstanding book, namely; “Top Screw-Up Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them!” Oh! How I appreciate seeing some of these arrogant bastards getting put into their place, and how grateful I am to be able to read in print everything I have suspected, years and years ago!

You know, I was always raised with the thought that Doctors are the next thing to God, or a Court of Law. Well, Guess what? They both make mistakes that not only ruin one’s lives, these very same mistakes can, and are, killing people.

Keep up the good work. You remind me of Bob Romanik! You are protecting the First Amendment also!

Violet M. Connoyer

I haven’t finished it yet, but I agree with all the above as to the pressures the Health community is working with. I sometimes wonder how they are able to pay for their back office requirements and keep up with the real research (without drug salespeople) that is happening both for and against the side effects of the common medications and treating procedures. The lack of benefit of some medications was a suprise. Some below 50%. I agree the print needs to be a little larger. Sometimes it’s hard to see the inside print without really bending the binder. I have enjoyed the first 40% of the book.

The book reinforces the need for each patient to be more vigilant, although my husband and I do not see any likelihood we can do all the items the book recommends. It would be convenient if the top 10 lists were available for download so we could take the appropriate list with us for appointments. That said, thank-you so much for all the work that went into the book.

My husband was constantly cutting your advice from the newspaper. Now we have a few books to look things up. They are very informative. I have read about the pharmacy errors and I am a pharmacy technician and we catch quite a few errors that doctors make. We are still finishing reading your books. You both have very good advice! Grateful for good reading, Phyllis

Great book overall, and fully in tune with the message I am trying to promote with my book and website managingyourdoctor.com, though there are a few details I would maybe not agree on (I think the cost benefits of generic medicines outweigh the downside of poor oversight by the FDA for example). And a little bit dismissive of some of the difficulties doctors face in practicing good medicine.

But like the whole of ‘The PeoplesPharmacy’ even though it explores the sometimes controversial fringes of medicine, it is a great resource for people who want to play a major part in their own healthcare.

This is a great resource for those of us who live with various maladies which affect our health. The emphasis on the partnership you have with your physicians and the infallibility of medical professionals is spot on! Nice job, Terry & Joe…

My cardiologist put me on a statin 15 years ago, not because of elevated cholesterol but because of my family history. I have told him and my endocrinologist repeatedly over the years that I wanted off it because within 6 months of starting it my fasting blood sugar was elevated, all they would do is change the prescription to a lower dose. Since I was on Weight Watcher and getting plenty of exercise and with no family history of diabetes I could only conclude that the statin was the cause.

Then I purchased your book and realized elevated blood sugar was not the only symptom I had. This month I saw the cardiologist with new ammunition, I told him I wanted off the statin and reminded him of by blood sugar, memory loss, leg pain, fatigue. He agreed and I have been off the statin now for 3 weeks, I have no change in my symptoms yet, but I am hopeful. Thank you for a well written, easy to understand book.

I finally finished reading your book. I agree that every doctor should have a copy. There are some things that I plan to ask our doctors about. Since we are senior citizens, I think that they should know. I have found many things that I plan to pass on to my children and some of my friends.