Member-only story
Are We Living in an Era of Widespread Incompetence?
Is this happening only in Brazil, or is it a worldwide phenomenon?
I don’t expect anything more from anyone to provide me with a service than incompetence.
When everything goes smoothly, I’m surprised.
For me to stay in just one field, medical care with my mother, I had experiences that illustrate well the reasons for my lack of trust in others.
My mother has the onset of dementia. She is baffled, and sometimes she has hallucinations. The geriatrician who assists her in the health plan prescribed a heavier drug to slow down the disease’s progression. A costly drug (almost one hundred dollars) and that could bring a series of associated effects. I would observe my mother’s behavior while a drug started to take effect to see if anything different was happening and weigh whether it was worth continuing the treatment or not.
Right away, my mother got diarrhea. I read in the package insert that this was a common side effect and that it tended to go away with time. I kept the drug, which could not be stopped without the doctor’s approval.
Continuous diarrhea.
After weeks of use and no improvement, I called the health insurance, asking the doctor to contact me.
