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The doctor will mistreat you now.

Article Excerpt
Which is most likely to kill you: a head-on collision on Interstate 35 or a hospital visit? If air bags come to mind, guess again. According to a stunning 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, as many as 98,000 patients die each year due to simple medical errors. That's twice the number of crash victims--and all because of inappropriate surgeries, wrongly prescribed drugs, hospital infections, and doctor carelessness. (For a worst-case scenario, turn to page 204 to read "Dr. Evil," the chilling account of Houston orthopedic surgeon Eric Scheffey.)

How can you protect yourself from your physician? The good news is that once-impotent regulatory agencies, such as the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners (TSBME), have been beefed up and given bigger sticks to swing, and hospitals today are more sensitive to malpractice and patient safety. Best of all, the Internet's huge cache of data on doctors, hospitals, and medications means that patients can finally be true consumers. But it's all up to you.

Paging Dr. Welby: Finding a Good Physician

To most of us, the idea of doctor shopping is somehow unseemly--or at the minimum, futile. Yes, it'd be nice to find that perfect golf partner, but practically speaking, here's what you really want to know: Is the guy's license current? Has he been sued for malpractice? Does...

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