• I’m nowhere close to the right, and yet I’ve experienced it personally more times than I have fingers to count on. Some examples:

    (first hand anecdotal evidence)
    • “He’s totally fine, just give him liquids and it’ll pass” - It wasn’t, it was appendicitis.
    • “The doctor said it will pass, but we’ll keep him for a couple days in observation” - It didn’t, appendix burst, filling everything with shit. They urgently flew in an expert surgeon from another city; when I was already under, he put a scalpel to my belly and it just sunk inside, my father and a nurse fainted.
    • After 2 months of stay in hospital, before they had to write a special justification: “He’s totally recovered, go home” - Another month with private nurse care at home.
    • “We acted as quickly as possible” - Written in the final report, dated to 2 days after I got admitted.
    • “That’s just some leftover blood” - It wasn’t, it was internal bleeding.
    • “Just take a painkiller and it’ll pass” - It didn’t, it was sepsis. Got admitted and directly put on a wide spectrum antibiotic, then waited for a week for the cultures to confirm I wasn’t going to die.
    • “Trust me, I’ve got special training on this” - Said by a nurse who couldn’t correctly fit a suction bandage for three times, after I pointed out it was sucking air from one wound in through another. They got a manufacturer’s representative who confirmed that, and directed them how to put it correctly. The next “trained” nurse, made the same mistake.
    • “You see fine, why don’t you get a driver’s permit?” - I barely can read, don’t see half the signs on the road, and when I ride shotgun, pedestrians suddenly appear out of nowhere.
    • “It’s all in your head” - Repeated 3 times, proceeds to write “no findings” in report, I still see random lights.
    • “It’s just a cold, take some hot tea and it will clear up” - It was ear canal infection, after a month in agonizing pain, got me close to losing my hearing, until I asked for a 4th opinion.
    • “Get up and you can wash yourself” - Said by an orderly, who proceeded to disconnect the antibiotics feed and left it dripping to the floor. Nurse was not amused.
    • “Don’t worry, it’s just an infection” - repeated for a week - “Let’s wait just a couple more days until the next revision” - patient dies the next day - “Well, you know she was very sick” - she was recovering before the infection.
    • “I know it hurts, but we have to pull it out” - No, it hurts because you forgot to release the inner balloon on the catheter.
    • “She probably drank too much water” - Said about a cat with an inflated belly. Next day she died. - “She passed away so quietly, not even a peep”.

    …there is more, but let me not bore you with anecdotal evidence.

    After all that shit, I should have died 5 or 6 times already, so I’m not going to badmouth the medical profession as a whole, and still got all my vaccines… but the fact that there are highly educated jackasses out there, is a fact.

    Most people do not run into this.

    Not sure if you’re young, or I’m cursed. My first run into “this” was when I was 13, and keeping a steady streak since then.