Medical Diagnosis and Treatment

[The Snark]

This applies to any foreigner seeking medical treatment in a foreign country - Suggestions

 

Diagnostics

• If at all possible, obtain a preliminary diagnosis from your home country
• Purpose of each diagnostic - from simple lab analysis to CT Scans and Angioscopy et al
• Obtain at least two independent diagnosis from different hospitals and physicians
• Find a third physician, again independent that you have a solid sound reason to trust, to compare the results of the two or more diagnosis.
• Put on your detective hat. You are looking for discrepancies between both the diagnostic procedures, the results, and the physicians recommendations for treatment.

If a discrepancy becomes obvious or even appears suspicious in any way, start over. with entirely different hospitals and physicians.

 

Treatment

As above, two or more independent medical authorities

1. Consult the physicians as to recommended treatment procedures and do comparisons

• Overall costs
• Procedures to be performed - spelled out in detail
• Length of the procedure - a time line
• Duration of stay in the hospital
• Follow up diagnostics and procedures
•  Immediate and future prognosis

 

Fact: There is little difference between medical diagnostics and treatment, and buying a new or used car. Sales pitches are common. Buying accessories you will never need or use is common. Prices can different greatly from one dealership/hospital to another. Payment plans can be open ended. Warranties may not be worth the paper they are printed on.

And most importantly, as a citizen of a foreign country, you have little or no recourse if you get scammed. Even less with medical since physicians wear the hat of unimpeachable authorities. Only an expert witness of superseding medical authority testifying in a court can impeach a physician.

 

Myself: Retired. BME, Bio Medical Engineering degree. EMT II, ACLS instructor. Certified Nurses Aid.

And with all my training I've been royally scammed four times now. I write this in the hope that others don't get victimized as I have,

[PPMMUU]

All the advice is good, but don't take too long in some cases. Some diseases, at certain stages, can progress and change the prognosis from favorable to incurable in some instances.

[The Snark]

On 9/15/2023 at 1:05 AM, PPMMUU said:

All the advice is good, but don't take too long in some cases. Some diseases, at certain stages, can progress and change the prognosis from favorable to incurable in some instances.

A salient point. Even me with my qualifications this had me completely in the dark. BUT, it is rare that a debilitating or potentially fatal chronic condition is on a short time frame. The individual doing their homework and being aware counts. If at all possible, have a reliable medical expert on hand and easily contacted to give a second opinion.

 

And always keep in mind, when it comes to medical treatment, physicians police themselves - peer review boards- and are very often hesitant to gainsay a colleague.

Edited July 19 by The Snark

[OneMoreFarang]

On 9/5/2023 at 7:56 AM, The Snark said:

Put on your detective hat. You are looking for discrepancies between both the diagnostic procedures, the results, and the physicians recommendations for treatment.

 

And are you qualified for this?

There seem to be many people who know everything better than the doctor.

 

Obviously, doctors can be wrong. But, they studied this for years...