INTERVIEW ON THE PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW, MEDIA PARTNER OF THIS SITE.
Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed Dr. David Wilcox.
Health Transparency: The Real Truth with Dr. David Wilcox
Every profession has some bad actors. Consider mechanics who want to do unnecessary work on your car or plumbers who overcharge you for their work. While this is significant, it only affects your trust and your wallet. With medical errors being the third leading cause of death, in healthcare, these bad actors can significantly harm you and in some extreme cases cost you your life.
Being a clinician I try to help everyone I interact with. Even if it’s not a medical need. Being a nurse or doctor truly is a calling and that’s why I get so upset when I read about clinicians who betray the trust of those who they are called on to help.
Recently I read about Robert Hadden who is an obstetrics doctor or OB GYN. He was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing his patients. For approximately 25 years, between 1987 and 2012, Dr. Hadden sexually abused and assaulted at least dozens of female patients, some repeatedly, during purported medical examinations. Dr. Hadden was an obstetrician/gynecologist employed by Columbia University Medical Center. He used his position as a medical doctor employed by a prestigious medical institution to make or attempt to make his victims believe that the sexual abuse he inflicted on them was appropriate and medically necessary.
A nurse was recently sentenced to 48 months in prison for her role in stealing fentanyl from sterile vials intended for patients for her personal use and then replacing the fentanyl with saline solution to avoid detection. Very dangerous stuff as she worked at an outpatient surgical center. Many patients there thought they would get relief from their pain only to be dosed with normal saline.
In my career, while I was a night supervisor at a hospital I ran into a troubling situation. A new doctor was harming patients. One of my responsibilities was coding patients. This means when a patient gets into a lethal situation I was called to the bedside to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and push drugs to keep the patient alive. Shortly after this doctor started I noticed a significant spike in the codes that were occurring at the hospital. I began to document how often this doctor’s patients were coding and brought my data to my vice president. I was told to keep documenting the data and that administration would monitor the matter.
Here you have a hospital system that is aware of the harm the doctor is causing but won’t act on it. In Dr. Hadden’s case, he was aligned to a very prestigious university and although complaints came in early and often during his career the university did nothing to stop him.
In my situation, the dam finally broke. This doctor missed a dissecting aorta or leaky blood vessel in a new mother which is a common complication of childbirth. The mother bled out and although we did everything we could to save her she died. A terrible tragedy that forced the hospital to finally take action and remove this doctor from practice. If the hospital had been proactive that young mother would still be alive.
The reason why I am writing about these types of experiences is that while 99% of doctors and nurses have your best interest at heart, you need to know how to protect yourself against the 1% who do not.
What can you as a trusting patient do to avoid becoming a victim of the American Healthcare System? You can proactively educate yourself on how to review any doctor with whom you are going to place your trust. Just like buying a car, you have to do your research on the medical team that you are entrusting to care for you.
To get you started I have prepared a free healthcare resource guide that will help you research your doctor, and hospital and lower your prescription drug prices, If you sign up for my updates at https://drdavidhelps.com/ I will send it to you to assist you with your healthcare journey. Being proactively educated gives you an edge when entering the American Healthcare System and helps you avoid being a statistic in the third leading cause of death, medical errors.
You can purchase Dr. David Wilcox’s book How to Avoid Being a Victim of the American Healthcare System: A Patient’s Handbook for Survival on Amazon at the following link https://lnkd.in/diZKYC2
Follow me on social media at:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Dr-David-Wilcox-102834559130574
Twitter – https://twitter.com/DrDavidHelps
You Tube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyYHs6ttrJ5l6-kUc-lEP9Q
According to a statement, “Healthcare is complex and that is not an accident. It is complex by the healthcare entities vying for your healthcare dollars. Covid has exacerbated the American Healthcare System, which was fragile, to begin with. Many clinicians are leaving healthcare due to burnout. How does the average layperson navigate the complexities of the American Healthcare System where a prescription could cost you $5 at one pharmacy and $500 at another? What does the average layperson do when their insurance company rejects their claim? Proactive education of the American Healthcare System prior to accessing it is the key to safely navigating the healthcare system. Until now, little information has been available to provide the layperson with the knowledge they need to be a better partner in their health care. Dr. David Wilcox’s book How to Avoid Being a Victim of the American Healthcare System: A Patient’s Handbook for Survival” is a game-changer and will provide you with the skill set you need to navigate the American Healthcare System.
Website: https://drdavidwilcox.com/
Dr. Wilcox is a Doctorate prepared nurse who also holds a Masters in Health Administration and is Board Certified in Nursing Informatics. Dr. Wilcox has 28 years of healthcare experience in which he worked as a bedside nurse, hospital administrator, and in healthcare information technology which has helped him to develop his unique perspective on the American Healthcare System.
Dr. Wilcox is the author of the book “How to Avoid Being a Victim of the American Healthcare System: A Patient’s Handbook for Survival (2021)” available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578878364
Dr. Wilcox currently resides in North Carolina with his wife and their three dogs.
Dr Wilcox’s website: Dr. David Wilcox – Healthcare, American Healthcare System (drdavidwilcox.com)
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN ITS ENTIRETY HERE
