WHO DO YOU TRUST?

As an adolescent I was treated by an unscrupulous dermatologist with an unproven skin treatment that left me with significant facial acne scarring. Years later I was treated both in the United States and in South America with massive doses of x-radiation. At that time it was an accepted methodology for the treatment of severe acne which years later was proven to be ineffectual and carcinogenic (predisposing to cancer). I think of the countless patient stories over the years where they have been victims of inadequate testing of pharmaceutical products, surgical or other procedures and suffered permanent debilitating damage and death. Then there have been the many patients who were recipients of “drug poisoning” from inadequate information on dosage or contraindications, and the “failed surgery syndromes” resulting in the patients’permanent pain worse than the pain before surgery. Add in the dishonest practitioners that promise “a cure”, take your money and run leaving the vulnerable behind empty handed. The horror stories of patients’ misfortunes oftentimes are overwhelming. When we feel powerless in controlling our own health care we can become overly paranoid and even dysfunctional. Frequently we choose to ignore facts with the rationalization that it happened to someone else but choose to believe the same would not happen to us. It matters to you when it happens to you, but unfortunately then it is too late.

My purpose here is not to cast blame on the inadequacies of a health care system or generate paranoia that intensifies mistrust of all health care professionals. My purpose is to stress the importance of personal accountability in your own health care and the decision making process that impacts your life. No one will take care of you like you take care of you. No one really values or appreciates your body like you do, or should. When it comes to making decisions about what to do to your body in its care, especially when done may have life long effects, why would you not take the effort and time to explore all options before making a decision.