should doctors be struck off if they make a mistake?

hey guys
now i know the 100th post means nothing to some of you and a lot to others, but i think it means something to me, so in honour i thought id try out a debate and a poll (my first one!!)
i was watching this chat show the other day and a woman was diagnosed with cancer and had all the treatment and told that she had weeks to live.
through the treatment she lost all her hair, put on tons of weight was sick and then was told that there was a mistake and the lump found was benign (harmless).
at this point she had had more radiation than if she had been in Hiroshima when the bomb fell and her body had been damaged and many of the effects where irreversable and she has no idea what ill effects she will suffer as a result of it.
some of you may have seen this programme, she says she felt no relief knowing that she was going to live and that when she felt she was going to die she could live with the side-effects, but now, understandably she felt that her body had just been damaged.
the audience where completly shocked that he was still practicing. my question is do people think that doctors should be able to continue practicing after they have made a serious mistake. if the doctor has saved 1000's of lives is it good enough to save their caree or is one mistake one to many?

s

 

If doctors were humanitarians as they were in years gone,then they would not be worried about the bottom line,the bottom line being $$$$$$$.I believe a doctor is nothing more than a lawyer in a white coat.If they were sure of their abilities they would not worry about malpratice insurance.This is what they claim is the reason for the high cost of treatment.This is bullshit.
So in regards to your question,string them up by their 'nads if they fuck up.Show no mercy,just like they show no concern if a person doesn't have insurance.

 

Good question. I ask, who here has never made a mistake while working? No one I'm sure. A doctor exhibiting gross neglect while doing his job is one thing, but to make a simple mistake is another. (Granted a doctor's simple mistake can be deadly and quite serious.) As for the woman in the original post, I would seek a second opinion, (ever wonder why it's called an opinion?), before I trusted the diagnosis of cancer.

 

sorry folks the third choice on the pole should read 'yes without exception'


s

 

i think administrative priorities that increase the likelyhood of medical mistakes being made are the problem. and that monitary(/accumulatory) economics has no place in health care. doctors who make honest mistakes need not be drummed entirely out of the corps so to speak, but need to be demoted from their role as primary physician, essentialy sent back to internship if they wish to remain in the medical field. needless to say, any who demonstrate an irrisponsible perspective on the other hand, must of course not be allowed to remain in practice. the whole malpractice insurance concept makes a mockery of any attempt to prevent grevious errors from taking place. needless to say, civil litigation is no general solution and of limited potential bennifit if any, though again hospital administrative organizations do need to remain accountable for errors more likely then not arrising from ill considered and short sighted priorities.

 

I feel for that poor lady, cancer treatment is horrible. Like her, I got left with a ton of excess weight, no hair, as well as barely any teeth and the need to shave my face every day. In my case, I did have cancer, and it was awful. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to undergo all that stuff for no reason!
I would have to say that the penalty for putting someone through that for no good reason should be severe. Doctors have responsibilities to their patients and should take extreme care in diagnosing serious illnesses. Being sick is difficult enough without being tortured for no good reason.
By the way, congratulations on becoming a member, Sam.

 

ohhh you surprise angel i would have thought that you would have given the doctor a second chance, just goes to show that i shouldn't make judgements espiecally not knowing what a person has gone through in their life.
i'm wondering what reactions to this question people would have over here in the uk, because we have the NHS and all that, but having said that all they do is moan about it anyway.
i think we're just starting too not see doctors as gods now, its a recent thing that people would go to their g.p then think about the advice given and maybe explore alternitive therapies.
i think the sad thing is that its often the deasters that make the news headlines and then this breeds distrust, when theres so many health care workers doing a good job.
and thats because often when people get better they want to forget about their illness as soon as possible.


s

 

No way, unless it was due to negligence of a serious sort- like if the doc was on drugs or something. To err is human, doctors are human. It is up to you to get several respected opinions, there is always the chance that something will go wrong, it's understood. The example you give sounds weird, seems more like a lab mistake, not a doctor's, but I don't know.
A lot of people don't seem to like doctors because they make decent money, but how much is your health/life worth to you? They don't even make that much $ anymore because they have to pay so much liability insurance.

 

while i agree with you to a point i don't think that they should make so much more than other health care professionals. my example being that while doctors say whats wrong, nurses care for twenty four hours but yet get so much less.


s

 

All people should be offed for screwing up. We should all be perfect, free of mistakes. Ya fuck up, ya die...now that's the way it should be.

 

are you perfect tom, if so maybe you could teach everyone else how to live like that.

s

 

clearly he's made a mistake, sam.

 

If they have a serious history of negligance, hell yes.

But health care isn't pulling out someones charley horse without touching the side of their leg. Doctors have serious life or death problems that they have to make momentary decisions on. It's very complicated, and it's easy for laypersons reading about in in retrospect to see what should have ben done, but the reality is much different.

A history of neligance shows serious incompetence though, and they should be struck off. Remember the guy who took out scraps of metal that people had claiming they were alien implants? That's the kind of person who shouldn't be let make descions at Subway.

 

For a serious mistake, yes a doctor should be penalized somehow... they're responsible for the well being of their patients, why shouldn't they be held responsible?

 

Cause people die sometimes. Circle of life.

I think we need more incompetent doctors honestly. Lets start pulling people out of public schools.

 

This was to celebrate my 100th post, I wasn't even a trained nurse at the time i wrote this- look at how many posts I have now!
third choice should still read yes without exception
S

 

I'm hoping to post enough to collapse in on myself like a black hole.

Almost there.

 

you've passed me lodui, thank you!

I'm realizing i'm more of a day poster, unless I'm drunk at night

 

and how many posts do you think that would be, let us know then we can contact the doctor in advance
S

 

Fuck I had a c-section and the freezing didnt take. I felt the entire thing, it was a horrible nightmare. The anesthisiologist shouldve been repremanded at least but he didnt even apologize to me ..... nothing happend as a result. IMO doctors always stick together in Canada there is no damn way you would ever win a lawsuit against them. We called a lawyer after this happened and he said if we lived in the USA we would be millionaires. You cant sue the entire health care system.