Why can't their be a Better Business Bureau for Doctors?

[bleedingheart]

If you hire a contractor to fix your roof and the guy doesn't show up to do the work or he does a poor job, you can document the case and report him. Enough reports and guess what...he goes into another line of work.

Now why can't we have this for physicians?

I personally was nearly killed by the mismanagement of my first pregnancy by an OB group that ignored the fact that I had a case of eclampsia that wasn't a textbook case. My sister, a nursing professor, was disgusted by how they ignored my swelling and blood pressure problems...just because I wasn't passing protein in my urine. It was my sister that insisted that I go back to the hospital two days after I had been discharged by OB group...

After I ended up in congestive heart failure...they were tripping over themselves to help me out..

I asked the cardiologist that I ended up being cared for ..."what can I do to warn other women that these jokers aren't competent"...he said there weren't many options but that I could try and present my case before the AMA.

The funniest thing about my case was the fact that a young student nurse was worried that after delivering my son that my blood pressure was 140/90...she told the floor nurses who in turn told the physician....he discharged me...two days later in the ER I was on lasix and had dropped 50lbs of water...and was on digoxin and vasotec....

[DU9598]

1. State Medical Examiners Board

Here in Iowa we have a Board of Medical Examiners. It is a state administrative body that receives complaints of all sorts against physicians. Look to see if your state has one.

Still, there are not enough safeguards against the small segment of negligent physicians who seem to be responsible for a large number of "mistakes".

[comsymp]

2. In many (most? all?) states, there is-

State medical boards function very much like the BBB, except with teeth.
http://www.fsmb.org/consumer.htm

On the website for my state's board, you can look up your doc, check on disciplinary procedures against him/her, etc. Very good info to help consumers make informed choices:
http://www.ncmedboard.org/

[Maraya1969]

3. You can report them to the state's Medical Agency or

whatever it happens to be called. I did it years ago for a doctor that answered an emergency call OBVIOUSLY DRUNK. Look in your phone book for government agencies.

The problem is they don't make this information public.

[bryant69]

4. Doctors have no interest in letting people know.

Which is understandable I guess.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[MichaelHarris]

5. quick question

was the doctor you called the "on call" doctor or just your everyday doctor?