Inconceivable Incompetence
Perhaps the single most vital tool that a doctor possesses is his/her ability to diagnose. To make correct diagnoses. When a patient presents with symptoms that are either clear-cut and readily identifiable, or tenuous and problematical, not readily given to causal identity, it can be critical that the attending physician have a good sense of diagnostic capability.
If the symptoms cannot be diagnosed, they cannot be adequately treated. That is an obvious conclusion and an important one, underlining just how important it is that the correct diagnosis be reached. At which point the doctor is able, with confidence, to prescribe medication or an ameliorating protocol, or both, which will be of benefit and relief to the sufferer.
Incorrect diagnoses can constitute a life-and-death situation. There are infrequent, but dreadful consequences on occasion when a presenting sufferer's symptoms are not taken seriously, misdiagnosed and/or dismissed with inadequate recommendations, and which end in a life-threatening situation, and sometimes death.
Just such an occurrence appears to have taken place at The Ottawa Hospital, when the then-high-commissioner to Canada of Cameroon, Solomon Azoh-Mbi, brought his wife Mercy Azoh-Mbi to the hospital in October 2009 for diagnosis and treatment when she fell suddenly ill. An attending emergency-room physician, Dr. Bruce Cload, assessed her as suffering from the flu.
This coincided with a flu epidemic in the city. One might assume that the emergency room doctors had seen quite a few people presenting with flu symptoms. Mrs. Azoh-Mbi did not have to wait long to be seen by a doctor, but when she was seen, that doctor severely misdiagnosed her condition. He prescribed Tamiflu and discharged her to the care of her worried husband.
Who had brought along his wife's medical records. Which showed that Mrs. Azoh-Mbi had a heart condition and had a mitral valve replacement. As his wife's condition deteriorated, an anxious and desperate Mr.Azoh-Mbi called an American doctor for advice who, on the description of Mrs. Azoh-Mbi's medical history diagnosed endocarditis, a serious condition afflicting heart patients with mitral valve replacements.
By the time she was re-admitted to hospital and finally placed in the intensive care unit, the damage she had rapidly suffered was too far advanced. Mrs. Azoh-Mbi's condition was so grave she experienced permanent brain injury, and her legs and arms had to be amputated. She now requires around-the-clock care.
High Commissioner Solomon Azoh-Mbi has launched a law suit against several of the doctors involved in the emergency room of the hospital, and against The Ottawa Hospital itself, for $30-million. Most of which will be used to pay for personal attendants, medication and prosthetic devices his wife will require for the rest of her natural life.
If the symptoms cannot be diagnosed, they cannot be adequately treated. That is an obvious conclusion and an important one, underlining just how important it is that the correct diagnosis be reached. At which point the doctor is able, with confidence, to prescribe medication or an ameliorating protocol, or both, which will be of benefit and relief to the sufferer.
Incorrect diagnoses can constitute a life-and-death situation. There are infrequent, but dreadful consequences on occasion when a presenting sufferer's symptoms are not taken seriously, misdiagnosed and/or dismissed with inadequate recommendations, and which end in a life-threatening situation, and sometimes death.
Just such an occurrence appears to have taken place at The Ottawa Hospital, when the then-high-commissioner to Canada of Cameroon, Solomon Azoh-Mbi, brought his wife Mercy Azoh-Mbi to the hospital in October 2009 for diagnosis and treatment when she fell suddenly ill. An attending emergency-room physician, Dr. Bruce Cload, assessed her as suffering from the flu.
This coincided with a flu epidemic in the city. One might assume that the emergency room doctors had seen quite a few people presenting with flu symptoms. Mrs. Azoh-Mbi did not have to wait long to be seen by a doctor, but when she was seen, that doctor severely misdiagnosed her condition. He prescribed Tamiflu and discharged her to the care of her worried husband.
Who had brought along his wife's medical records. Which showed that Mrs. Azoh-Mbi had a heart condition and had a mitral valve replacement. As his wife's condition deteriorated, an anxious and desperate Mr.Azoh-Mbi called an American doctor for advice who, on the description of Mrs. Azoh-Mbi's medical history diagnosed endocarditis, a serious condition afflicting heart patients with mitral valve replacements.
By the time she was re-admitted to hospital and finally placed in the intensive care unit, the damage she had rapidly suffered was too far advanced. Mrs. Azoh-Mbi's condition was so grave she experienced permanent brain injury, and her legs and arms had to be amputated. She now requires around-the-clock care.
High Commissioner Solomon Azoh-Mbi has launched a law suit against several of the doctors involved in the emergency room of the hospital, and against The Ottawa Hospital itself, for $30-million. Most of which will be used to pay for personal attendants, medication and prosthetic devices his wife will require for the rest of her natural life.
Labels: Canada, Health, Human Fallibility, Human Relations
posted by Pieface | 6:41 PM
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