Dangerous Docs: How do we spot them? II

In the first post of this two-part series, we shared the results of a study that was recently published about how to spot doctors that could be putting your health at risk. In the first post we covered the dangers of a doctor who is too ready to prescribe medications and ones that are running on a lack of sleep. Both of these behaviors can lead to misdiagnosis,medication errors and other types of malpractice.

In our first post we mentioned that the study named seven signs of a dangerous doc. So what are the other five? The next danger to watch out for is a doctor who is a little too judgmental. A study published in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics discussed the example of some male doctors who failed to give women proper treatment because they felt that the women were exaggerating their symptoms. Medicine changes on a daily basis and doctors who are not open-minded or who do not take your complaints seriously could be failing to give you the care you need.

Fourth and Fifth on the list go towards personality traits that really should be left out of the medical office. When you seek treatment, you want a doctor who is honest about your options and who focuses only on your health. Doctors who are too flirtatious could be abusing their power and using the position for something other than the treatment of your health. Doctors who cannot be honest about mistakes could leave you in a dangerous position. When a mistake has been made, you don’t want to have to wait until it is too late to correct it.

Next — we hinted at it above — a doctor who cannot keep up with the changes in medicine may not be able to provide you with the care you need. Screening tests alone are advanced at an exponential rate and we all know that the earlier something is diagnosed, the easier it is to treat it. The seventh sign to watch out for is a doctor who fails to uphold the laws of privacy that are required by law.

While you can try to minimize the risk of being subjected to medical malpractice, there is no sure way to be able to predict whether a doctor is going to make an error in your treatment. When malpractice does occur the law steps in to provide victims with a route to compensation to help them recover from the negligence of another.

Source: Today Health, “Doctors behaving badly: 7 types to watch out for,” Kristen Dold, June 4, 2012