There are many things each of us can do to protect ourselves and to help others. Here are some suggestions:
1. Always have a family member or an advocate with you in the hospital. We even do this when just going to a doctor's office. Remember the old saying, "Two heads are better than one". Your health is the most important thing in the world so don't take chances.
2. Ask questions until you are fully satisfied that you know all the risks to any treatment. Do not assume the doctor will tell you all the risks without being asked.
3. Research your ailment. The web is a powerful tool. There are many good web sites. See our links page for recommendations. A Google Search can be helpful too, but there is also a lots of garbage there that you will have to filter through.
4. Research any treatment recommended to you, even those from doctors. Once again the web is a quick and easy resource. See our Links page for suggestions.
5. Carefully evaluate whether the benefits of a treatment out weigh the risks. Many times the risks far outweigh the benefits, so what is the point? There are treatments that we have seen for minor ailments where there is significant risk of death. Surely this is not what you want.
6. You are the best person to evaluate what is really wrong and what is really working to help you. Remember the doctor only see a "Snapshot" of you when you are in his/her office for a few minutes, whereas you see the whole movie.
7. Stay on top of current legislation (see our page). It is amazing how much legislation is going on every year that affects all of us and our health care. Write letters and emails to your legislators. We write to all the legislators, not just from our own district. Does this make a difference? We have personally been intimately involved in getting one bill passed into law and we are working on others. So, yes it does make a difference.
8. Join our movement to fight for our rights and for Patient Safety.