BonosSaint
Rock n' Roll Doggie
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2004
- Messages
- 3,566
I've noticed in the past few decades a breakdown in the relationship between patient and doctor (generalized statement. I know there are many good doctor/patient relationships.) Because of insurance, actual malpractice, malpractice litigation abuse, there are many good reasons for this. But it seems to me there are a lot less doctors willing to listen to the patient, less willing to go the extra mile to find out what is wrong with their patients, they kind of go through the motions as to what the most common ailment should be and if the patient doesn't have that, they just shrug their shoulders. I've seen doctors reluctant to let you get a second opinion just because they are afraid of losing the revenue, doctors who just prescribe a treatment without informing the patient verbally of common potential effects of that treatment that might cause the patient to seek out another treatment. For all the information available on the net, etc., there seems to be much less real communication between doctor and patient. I've seen doctors refuse to continue to prescribe a medication the person has been told they would have to be on for the rest of their lives and refuse to sit with the patient to discuss the reasons or to discuss alternatives. Maybe these are isolated cases, but since I've seen it so often in my small little area of the world, I do not think they are isolated.
I was spoiled. My father was one of the last breed of housecall doctors. His theory was that if it was an emergency to the patient, who was he to say it was not an emergency? At worst, he wasted a little time. But he would take the extra time to ask a lot of questions, because sometimes that little question a patient didn't think was important gave the clue to the diagnosis. He respected the patient's ability to know his/her own body and know when something was off, whether or not the first round of tests found anything. Many doctors today do not seem to respect their patients or really to care. I think that is dangerous to the patient. I think there is more actual malpractice nowadays than there was.
I was spoiled. My father was one of the last breed of housecall doctors. His theory was that if it was an emergency to the patient, who was he to say it was not an emergency? At worst, he wasted a little time. But he would take the extra time to ask a lot of questions, because sometimes that little question a patient didn't think was important gave the clue to the diagnosis. He respected the patient's ability to know his/her own body and know when something was off, whether or not the first round of tests found anything. Many doctors today do not seem to respect their patients or really to care. I think that is dangerous to the patient. I think there is more actual malpractice nowadays than there was.