When patient complaints are not taken seriously
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| When healthcare providers don't take patient complaints seriously, patients say it feels to them like "medical gaslighting" |
What is medical gaslighting, and how prevalent is it? Lubin & Meyer addresses this issue in its Patient Safety Resource Center article:
#1 Patient Safety Concern: Dismissing Patient Complaints — also known as "Medical Gaslighting"
What is medical gaslighting?
Lubin & Meyer founding partner, Andrew C. Meyer Jr. explains, “Physicians, PAs, and nurses have a duty to listen — and when they don’t, the consequences can be devastating for patients and their families. Medical providers must recognize that listening isn’t optional — it’s the foundation of providing safe, responsible care. Dismissing symptoms without proper evaluation or testing isn’t just careless — it can be life-threatening.”
Dismissing patient concerns can lead to delayed and missed diagnoses, and tends to occur more often among populations such as women and people of color, as well as patients who are older, heavier, disabled or LGBTQ.
Said Meyer, "Many of the cases we have successfully resolved for our clients involve situations where patient complaints were downplayed, dismissed, or ignored—leading to delayed or missed diagnoses that resulted in serious injury or even death."
View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law
For more information on medical gaslighting, see the full article here, which includes several examples of cases involving patient complaints not being taken seriously, as well as tips on how to spot medical gaslighting.
View more topics in our Patient Safety Resource Center:
- 29 Mistakes That Should Never Happen In A Hospital, But Do
- Lifesaving Tips for Safer Childbirth
- Raising Awareness of the Number 1 Killer in Hospitals
- And more...
Lubin & Meyer represents individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
