When pediatricians make mistakes

This is why I love Dr. Parker so much. He talks openly about the fear of misdiagnosing a patient, and why the willingness to face that fear is ultimately better for his patients (and their parents). I'm no medical expert, but I do know when something's wrong with my kid. Thinking of my pediatrician as a learned provider of information, but not necessarily as the be-all-end-all, helps when the diagnosis doesn't match what I feel in my gut. I try not to second-guess the doctor, who I trust and believe in. But I also give my own instincts their due respect, and when they are wildly waving red flags, I pay attention.

Comments

[Linda]

One of the main reasons I take my kids to their doctor is because he told me immediately that he doesn't know everything and is not hesitant to ask a colleague's opinion or refer a patient to a specialist. I would much rather have a doctor like that then one who is afraid to admit they don't know what's going on and continues treating my kid.

[hedra]

I'd far rather hear 'I really don't think it is serious, but I could be wrong - let's find out' than 'this is nothing, he's supposed to be that short, he didn't really stop growing properly, your other doctor just measured him wrong for two years. (I'm the doctor, I'm right, you're just upset because he's not above average)'

My second son lost a LOT of growth due to undiagnosed lactose intolerance and fructose malabsorption. 90th% to under 25th%ile in 2 years. We found a better doctor, and while he still couldn't spot the problem right off, he was determined to prove that their either WAS or was NOT a problem, and if there was, what it was. He left room outside his certainty (that there wasn't anything wrong) for curiosity. Curiosity led to different testing, which led to answers, and we'll find out next week if that has led to catchup growth. Fingers crossed.

Love love love a curious, open-mided, non-ego-driven doctor. Love one who can listen to someone other than themselves. Like, to the parents.

[Momo]

We ended up with a great pediatrician right from the start. He didn't insist that we come in for every single concern a new (paranoid) mommy has. Instead he urged me to call him with any and all questions and returned all of my calls as soon as he got the message.

We had/have some serious sleep issues with our little one. The initial advice our pediatrician provided was based on the ONE DAY of sleep education that he received in med school. However, when he became a new parent his advice totally changed. He admitted that he didn't have enough proper information in that area and took time to find out more.

Becoming a parent has given him a whole new view of his patients and has made him an even more curious pediatrician.

[kelly]

Docs make mistakes....all of the time. Parents need to know this and trust their instincts. If something doesn't feel right, ask questions, push for a second opinion, or request more testing. Don't allow yourself to slip into the "they are the doctor and they know more than I do" zone.
I am mother of a cancer survivor. My son's cancer was diagnosed correctly from day 1, but we have many cancer buddies who had very different experiences. Doctors dismissed their child's unexplained vomitting and headaches for weeks and in some cases months. I can't tell you how many moms have told me, "I wish I had listened to my gut. I knew something was really wrong and I blame myself for listening to my gut and pushing the doctor to do more testing or get a second opinion."

[Twinmama]

We switched pediatricians because ours didn't seem to believe pain is real. When my twins were babies and screaming from teething pain, he said teething was a myth and just behavioral. When one of them got an ear infection as a toddler, again he said it was behavioral and by the time we saw the other doc in the practice for another opinion, it was raging. He was flat-out wrong both times. So we switched to the other doctor permanently. I don't know what made him like that, but I feel sorry for the other people taking their kids to a guy that won't believe them when they're in pain.

[mountainbunny]

It isn't just doctors - their staff makes a huge difference, too.
We switched pediatricians Friday (the day after this posted to Parent Hacks) because our pediatrician's nurse is unwilling to admit making mistakes and her wrong opinion is right, even over what the doctor says.
Once the nurse mis-weighed our (then) newborn, insisted that she wasn't growing at all. What actually happened is that the nurse didn't "zero" the scale, which I pointed out at the time, but no, the baby was suddenly drastically underweight and had to come in for weigh-ins every few days. When we came in 3 days later, she suddenly weighed 22 ounces more & she tried to say the baby had gained over a pound in 3 days... right.
We let that slide, which was a huge mistake (we really did like the doctor), and in the intervening time were lectured by the same nurse on how the baby no longer needed to nurse at ten months. On January 2nd, she screeched at me when I called to ask about the painful teething & she said our daughter should not be nursing anymore *at all* - her first question was about how much whole milk the baby was drinking. She got very nasty & said that we could "do whatever we wanted" when I told her that what she said wasn't what the doctor told us. My husband was sitting next to me & we were both stunned.
And that was it for us - we moved to find a new pediatrician that day.
My thought is that the doctor either doesn't know or care what his staff is doing - especially after a friend told me that the nurse has been repeatedly nasty to her, too (but she really likes the doctor, so she stays & was actually miffed when we left the practice).
In retrospect, I feel that we waited far too long, but thank goodness nothing really bad happened to us before we spoke up.

[dawn]

As a nurse in a pediatrician's office, PLEASE do not assume your doctor knows the nurse is horrible. I adore the Dr. I work with, but see how a dr may not see how his patients are being mistreated. I can literally go 3/4 of a day and never SEE my doc. We are in all of the same rooms, but at different times. I make calls while he is seeing patients, and lots of times, communicate in notes. Trust me when I tell you, a pediatrician wants and needs to know when parents are unhappy with their staff. Even if he seems to discount you, if the complaint comes up again....or again, he'll see, and make changes. Please consider letting your dr know what happened. Otherwise, he may just assume you left the practice for other reasons, like insurance change, etc.