When going to the doctor for treatment, you expect that the doctor will give you a thorough checkup that will hel
When a person is going through treatment for a life-threatening condition, they likely want to get the best treatment possible so they have the best chance of beating the condition. In the case of cancer patients, the cost of cancer drugs might be affecting the treatment protocols used by some doctors. Kentucky residents might be interested in learning how the cost of medications might prevent patients from receiving the care they need.
A new system of drug ratings for cancer drugs is being done by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The system will take the cost of drugs, as well as the side effects and the benefits, into account to determine the rating. Some patients might be worried that this new formula means that doctors will make medication errors when trying to find the drugs to best treat their cancer.
Doctors are also receiving some pressure from the insurance companies, which are interested in limiting what they consider unnecessary spending. More than 100 leukemia specialists were noted in the American Society of Hematology’s journal as saying that the cost of cancer medications is too high. They note that in some cases, the cost is prohibitive for some patients, especially those with a limited income.
When you consider that the cost of health care is rising at a rate faster than that of the entire economy, it is easy to see how patient care might be compromised by the cost of treatments. When patient care is compromised for any reason, serious complications and injuries can occur. People who haven’t gotten the care they need because of doctor error or medication error might decide to look into filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Understanding the intricacies of these types of lawsuits might help them to make a decision.
Source: Reuters, “Cancer doctors urged to consider value when treating patients” Deena Beasley and Julie Steenhuysen, May. 31, 2014
p to determine if anything is amiss. In some cases, doctors are missing out on some diseases and conditions, which is putting patients at risk. A new connection has been found between undiagnosed diabetes and heart attacks. This connection shows that failure to diagnose a patient properly can have serious consequences.
The study reviewed information from 2,854 heart attack patients from 24 American hospitals. Those patients weren’t aware they had diabetes, but researchers tested the A1C levels to determine the diabetes status of the patients. The study concluded that in 10 percent of people, heart attacks are associated with diabetes that hasn’t been diagnosed.
In 69 percent of the study patients, doctors didn’t recognize the signs of diabetes in the patients. Had they only checked A1C levels in the midst of the heart attack, they could have increased the chance of discovering the diabetes by 17 times.
As the incidence of heart attacks and diabetes rise, it is important for doctors to recognize the signs of both conditions. If doctors can recognize diabetes early on, it might be possible to work with the patient to reduce excess weight and to add other lifestyle changes that can minimize the risk of cardiovascular complications that can lead to a heart attack.
When doctors fail to diagnose conditions properly, serious harm can come to the patient. Kentucky residents harmed by a failure to diagnose can seek compensation via a civil process.
Source: Medical Day, “Diabetes May Cause Heart Attacks When Doctors Fail To Diagnosis The Disease” Samantha Olson, Jun. 03, 2014
