Healthy Tips: When your Doctor Made a Mistake

1. Ask Right Away. Don't hold yourself thinking there is something wrong. A medical mispractice can often be made worse by time or other procedures based on the wrong medication or treatment.
2. Don’t accuse. Don’t start talking names of your doctor. Your first priority is to look out if there has
   been a mistake and get it corrected as quickly as possible. You need everyone on the hospital or clinic to be on your side.
3. Be forceful. Most doctors and hospitals don’t have procedures for reporting and responding to mistakes, so they will always try to run rather than solve your problem. It’s especially important to stand your ground if the patient is your child or someone else who cannot speak up for themselves. They need you to be their advocate and protect their life.
4. Get a second opinion. Another doctor, or someone else to verify the treatment, medication, or diagnosis. Most medical errors are the result of one person’s mistaken judgment or action, and by simply asking someone else to verify, you may catch the error before it has caused harm.
5. Don’t be Shy. Don’t worry about hurting your doctor’s feelings or looking foolish. Medical mistakes happen by the thousands every day, so if someone tries to make you feel stupid, remind him gently of that fact.
6. Don’t threaten legal action. Nothing will make doctors and nurses clam up faster than the threat of a lawsuit. Instead, focus on getting the situation corrected as quickly as possible. And honestly, until we all stop being so quick to point fingers when a mistake is made, we’re not going to be able to stop them from happening at all.

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