Medical liability lawsuits
However, doctors should think before giving medical advice to friends and family for a variety of reasons. This was said by several sources to Healio Family Medicine.
Medical liability lawsuits are, sadly, a common occurrence. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), 34% of practicing physicians have faced a medical liability lawsuit during their careers.
The probability of a lawsuit increases with the duration of the practice
Fortunately, most of these suits fail. The AMA says that 68% of closed claims were dropped, dismissed or abandoned. Among the 7% of claims that go to trial, 88% were won by the defendants.
For one thing, you don’t want to be sued. On the other hand, you don’t want to be rude to your friends and family.
Therefore, we project 5 golden rules on how to give medical advice to friends and family.
TIPS:
Show empathy
In most cases, friends and family do not want advice. They just want you to listen and show empathy. In many cases and conversations, that is all you need to do. In other cases, however, “someone” tells their story and expects some kind of “professional reaction.”
At the meeting do not become the doctor of his family member (or friend)
Do not do it. Here is why:
- You don’t have all his records and lab values. You didn’t even examine it.
- If he does, from now on, it won’t make sense for him to go to the doctor, he will just call you. What good is investing time and money in a visit to the doctor, when they can just call you?
- Your doctor will be offended (I would be) and your doctor-patient relationship will be damaged.
Never judge the doctor treating your friend or family member by saying:
“That’s total nonsense” or “What an outdated therapy regimen.” If you don’t like the way the doctors handle it, I would say “That is an unusual approach. But there may be additional information that I don’t have. ” There really is no point in damaging your friends’ doctor relationship. Because it will ruin the foundation of your relationship: trust.
If you really have the impression that something cannot be right, you need to go a little further:
- Suggest that he ask you open-ended questions, such as why he preferred this medicine over this one.
- In many cases a mystery is solved and the doctor had good reason to act as he did.
Recommend getting a second opinion
If you still have a terrible feeling about the doctor and his treatment plan, suggest getting a second opinion from another doctor you recommend.. But keep in mind: from this moment you go to the driver’s seat. If things don’t work out with the new document. You are in trouble because from now on you have the responsibility to keep managing things.
In short, the best thing we can do for our family is listen to their experiences. Show empathy and make sure you have a good doctor who you trust and who takes your advice.
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