UNITED STATES—I can truly see why so many people are at times skeptical about going to the doctor. This past month has totally questioned my confidence and safety when it comes to the medical arena. What is even worse, the idea of the healthcare system as being a money maker is scary as hell.

My grandmother who suffers from Type II diabetes was recently hospitalized after taking a nasty fall from her bed. She was taken to the hospital to be treated. What worries me is what I discovered nearly 2 weeks later: she suffered from not one stroke, but two strokes!

Yes, this is super alarming because the doctors divulged this news to my grandmother who has dementia. I’m beyond baffled because the first question that popped into my mind is WHY in the world would ANY PHYSICIAN think it is suitable to tell a patient who has dementia (and they were made crystal clear of this factoid) and difficulty remembering things that she had 2 strokes?

I mean wouldn’t it be wise for the doctor to disclose those details to a family member who has been at the hospital, or am I just to assume, because that family member maybe stepped out of the room or wasn’t present when they were ready to deliver the important news a pass? No, hell no! We all know strokes can be deadly, especially if they are not caught and taken care of within a certain time frame.

My ramble this week is not simply to discuss the issue of my grandmother’s health; this is a discussion about why more people aren’t holding doctors accountable for their costly and sometimes deadly mistakes. I mean I know someone quite close to me who lost both parents because of medical mistakes that were made. It hurt me to the core to learn this news, even worse was the factor that both deaths could have been prevented. I would have sued and I mean sued the hell out of that hospital and the doctors.

They are tasked with saving lives and I understand that with surgery risks are always possible, but its striking that so many doctors can go on with their lives as if they have done nothing wrong. Well, America we can change that by implementing a bit of repercussions for such carelessness. How about the loss of the opportunity to practice medicine, or lawsuits that holds hospitals to a higher standard, than the occasional “well we made a mistake, our bad, we’ll do better next time” excuses heard time and time again.

That is the problem with the medical arena; it’s a money making machine and that’s how those in the pharmaceutical, health insurance and medical arena behave. It’s all about the MONEY! How about we stop worrying so much about getting richer and instead focus our energies on helping people stay healthy?

If we gave medicine to those who are ill to prevent the spread of more diseases, if we took the idea of making money out of the equation, things would be better. If we focused our energies on ensuring people stay healthy, we wouldn’t have so many people going to the hospital, seeking medical treatment and worrying about this epidemic of people desperately needing health care and not having access to it.