Is being a well-informed patient “obnoxious”?
A lot has changed in the healthcare profession since I graduated from med school. Not just in terms of advancements in medicine, but also in the culture of medicine. I just came across a story that rankled me quite a bit because it flies in the face of everything that I was taught when I was learning my profession – and everything I’m routinely preaching when I write to you.
According to a story I read on CNN.com, Dr. David Golden, an allergist in Baltimore “fired” one of his patients for “being obnoxious.” Sounds fair enough, right? But wait until you hear about the patient’s behavior that was giving this allergist a rash.
After Dr. Golden had recommended a medication for his patient’s cough, the patient questioned the possible side effects of the drug. Dr. Golden tried to convince his patient that the side effects of the drug weren’t bad. “But he wasn’t open to discussing anything,” Dr. Golden said. “He countermanded everything I said. So I told him, ‘You know it all, so got take care of yourself. I’m not your doctor any more.’”
THUNK. That was the point in the story where my jaw hit the floor.
I’m not sure which was more shocking to me: This doctor’s behavior, or the fact that he was willing to tell this story to CNN.com – and use his real name!
For me, this one anecdote crystallizes what’s wrong with all of the healthcare profession, from your physician all the way up to the doctors who are with the FDA, and the doctors who are involved with Big Pharma. They believe they shouldn’t be questioned – least of all by their patients. But that’s exactly what’s happening these days. More and more, patients are taking more control of their healthcare, and are no longer accepting what doctors say as gospel. Patients are demanding a second opinion be heard: their own.
“I’ve been doing this for 28 years, and unquestionably it’s gotten worse,” Dr. Golden said.
By “gotten worse,” Dr. Golden means that his patients have become better informed and more likely to question him on things like the side effects of drugs.
There’s another industry that’s been experiencing a similar backlash: the mainstream media. Like doctors, they’re no longer considered the be-all, end-all source of information, and their credibility is slipping a bit in the eyes of the public. The reason is simple: the Internet. More and more people are turning away from TV news sources and getting their information from the so-called “blogosphere” – amateurs with their own websites.
Before the Internet, your family physician was the sole source of medical information and opinion. Sure, you could try to do some research on your own, but how? Where do you go? Medical journals in your local library? It wasn’t practical. But now, anyone with a cough or a pain in their side can fire up their computer, Google their symptoms, and get three dozen websites that will “diagnose” their ailment, and tell them not only about the standard treatments but the alternative and holistic treatments as well.
As I tell you again and again, the medical community is slow to change its mind about its own accepted conventional wisdom. Almost every week I write to you about one of my beliefs finally being vindicated and accepted by the medical mainstream years later. Most people find it ironic that doctors, whose profession is so reliant on continual learning, actually have very closed minds. And so when they’re confronted by patients who question their opinions, they take offense. And in Dr. Golden’s case, they commit the ultimate outrage of “firing” their patients.
Naturally, the CNN.com article where I read about Dr. Golden goes on to list several “tips” to make you a “better patient” (read: a more docile patient that shuts up and obeys!). The number two tip? “Don’t come in loaded with Internet printouts.” In this tip, CNN.com takes a shot at the big-bad Internet that seems to be the enemy of both Big Media and Big Medicine. (I can’t help but wonder if CNN.com includes its own health advice among the things you shouldn’t bring up with your doctor.)
To me, Dr. Golden is the poster boy for the arrogance and closed-mindedness that’s rampant throughout the medical profession. I have little time for doctors who prefer to treat their patients as though they’re just cars in for an oil change. I’m always encouraging you to question what’s going on with your health, and I have no intention of changing.
That’s bad news for guys like Dr. Golden. And good news for your health.
