E
etstanddie@sbcg
Guest
What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? Indiana.
I became ill three years ago with systemic vasculitis. A simple biopsy at the time of surgery would have diagnosed the condition.
After that, a simple referral to a nephrologist and a rheumatologist would have enabled me to obtain the proper treatment. Two years later, with proper treatment, I may have been returning to work. Instead, I am facing dialysis, have had another mild stroke and irreversible body damage. These are all moot points now.
I knew my diagnosis from information gathered on the internet and plus the fact that I have a strong medical background. I actually had doctors laugh at me. Their rationale--my sed rate, although abnormal, was not as high as they thought it should be to have vasculitis.
To add insult to injury, doctor after doctor refused to fill out disability forms or get involved in disability in any way. "It's too much paperwork". I couldn't see a specialist without a referral. It took me 7 months to see a nephrologist, even though I was in stage IV renal failure. To obtain that I went to a free screening by the National Kidney Foundation and with paper in hand gave it to the primary care to prove I was in stage IV, I got my referral, proper diagnosis and treatment. Too little, too late.
There are many like me who are racing against the clock trying to get proper medical care and disability so they can help themselves. Why aren't doctors held to any standards? Why aren't there laws to protect patients? You have "patient rights", but who enforces them. I know you can get an attorney to file medical malpractice, but this did not need to happen. Reporting a doctor to a Medical Board is like spitting in the wind. Sometimes help is needed in a more timely way.
From reading disability boards, I notice that people with cardiovascular disease and cancer seem to have a more difficult time. I want to learn more about what can be done to change this.
Can you point me in any direction? Specifically, I would like to know how a patients rights can be enforced.
I became ill three years ago with systemic vasculitis. A simple biopsy at the time of surgery would have diagnosed the condition.
After that, a simple referral to a nephrologist and a rheumatologist would have enabled me to obtain the proper treatment. Two years later, with proper treatment, I may have been returning to work. Instead, I am facing dialysis, have had another mild stroke and irreversible body damage. These are all moot points now.
I knew my diagnosis from information gathered on the internet and plus the fact that I have a strong medical background. I actually had doctors laugh at me. Their rationale--my sed rate, although abnormal, was not as high as they thought it should be to have vasculitis.
To add insult to injury, doctor after doctor refused to fill out disability forms or get involved in disability in any way. "It's too much paperwork". I couldn't see a specialist without a referral. It took me 7 months to see a nephrologist, even though I was in stage IV renal failure. To obtain that I went to a free screening by the National Kidney Foundation and with paper in hand gave it to the primary care to prove I was in stage IV, I got my referral, proper diagnosis and treatment. Too little, too late.
There are many like me who are racing against the clock trying to get proper medical care and disability so they can help themselves. Why aren't doctors held to any standards? Why aren't there laws to protect patients? You have "patient rights", but who enforces them. I know you can get an attorney to file medical malpractice, but this did not need to happen. Reporting a doctor to a Medical Board is like spitting in the wind. Sometimes help is needed in a more timely way.
From reading disability boards, I notice that people with cardiovascular disease and cancer seem to have a more difficult time. I want to learn more about what can be done to change this.
Can you point me in any direction? Specifically, I would like to know how a patients rights can be enforced.