Do No Harm

Like most people, I try not to dwell on or talk about illness. In fact a strong background in Christian Science, when I was a young child, made it a prohibited subject. We've all known people, particularly elders, who could speak of little else. It seems nothing is off limits any longer, not even for the faint of heart.

The wish for healing has always been half of health.  Seneca

     In spite of a reluctance to speak of extremely personal matters, and with very little of my life spent in front of television screens, here goes. Have you witnessed a recent bombardment of advertisements on television concerning the use of vaginal mesh products in surgical repair procedures? Repelled and fascinated, a thrill of relief went through me, as I watched one of these personal injury ads. Suffering from minor pelvic damage, I'd discussed surgery as an option with a highly recommended Gynecologist, who proposed to use one of the very products condemned in the ads. I absolutely turned it down, dodging this particular bullet, but I was not, suffering, in severe discomfort or in a socially embarrassing condition. Otherwise the decision in favor of surgical repair, would have been hopeful, to say the least.

     What I did not escape is a lingering fear of dire consequences from medical intervention. People often cannot, simply, heal and move through injury inflicted by physicians and hospitals. Here is a link to a Pro Publica article, which speaks to the subject:  http://www.propublica.org/article/when-harm-in-the-hospital-follows-you-home. 

       This is just a brief blog entry, and decades have passed, since the subject of patient rights became a hot button issue. Volumes have been written since, and iterations of Patient Bill of Rights have come and gone. With Affordable Health Care, came changes in patients' rights. As as important as it is to read the legislation,  much has been published concerning the changes. Current information is available state-by-state, or on Healthcare.gov.  http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/rights/bill-of-rights/index.html 

     I cannot urge readers strongly enough, regardless of age, to access, print and read this information, and to be their own best advocates. It may not spare us terrible accidents, not even those of us who are both proactive and highly skeptical about patient care, but it is essential.