Doctors trying to gag their patients

[Slytovhand]

I would think that the doctors get smart and do the opposite. If they know they are good, and they have regular patients who know they are good, instead of handing out a gag order, they'd be better off handing out a little flier encouraging patience to hop on the review site and write a good review of their performance. And, if they are that good a doctor, and their patients know this, they'd be happy to write a glowing review.

[Seshat]

Sometimes I think people expect too much of doctors. The human body is not like a computer. It's a million times more complex, and no two are made the same.

Doctors are human. Most of them do their best.

That's true, and I'm not complaining about doctors whose initial tentative diagnoses were wrong. I am complaining about some aspects of bedside manner, however.

But mostly:
- the doctor who didn't find the fibromyalgia ignored the fact that I was limping into her office, had noticeable balance issues, and a bunch of other visible symptoms.

- the doctor who decided not to continue to diagnose my friend said so in quite an offensive manner (thus the bedside-manner complaint). But my major complaint with him is that he chose not to continue to try to figure out what was wrong with her.


I expect doctors to listen to patients, to believe patients reports of their subjective feelings as legitimate perceptions (perhaps not objectively true, eg hallucinations).
I expect them to pay attention to objectively assessable symptoms.
I expect them to continue to attempt diagnosis until some objective confirmation of an accurate diagnosis is made. Or the illness clears up.
I expect them to consider the possibility of a syndrome or other difficult to diagnose/difficult to treat illness.
I expect them to consider the possibility of mental illness.
I expect them to continue to attempt treatment until there is no currently possible treatment available, or until the patient (or patients' guardians) refuse treatment (eg, some cancers).
I expect palliative care in cases where nothing else can be done.

I expect them to treat suspected hypochondriacs with the same respect as anyone else: and with a referral to a good diagnostic psychiatrist who can confirm or refute the tentative diagnosis of hypochondria.

I expect them to treat suspected drug-seekers with the same respect as anyone else, and with a similar referral to an appropriate service.


Well, okay. 'expect' is the wrong word for most of these. But I wish I could expect that from doctors, and I don't think it's an excessive expectation.

[Slytovhand]

Seshat, sounds like you actually expect a doctor to admit that they might be wrong, and that they actually might want to get things right... cos they care....

[Boozy]

It's a bit trickier for doctor's to admit that they're wrong or made a mistake. If I scerw up at work, I say so and get praised for my responsibility and honesty. If a doctor admits they screwed up, they can get sued. And if their insurance companies find out they admitted fault, they can withdraw coverage. And a doctor can't practice without malpractice insurance.

[Slytovhand]

Sorry, I meant more 'admit to themselves'. They don't have to say outright to a patient they were wrong, but at least acknowledge to themselves that they aren't omniscient, and thus actually find what the issue is - not presume they've got the answer... especially in light of evidence against.

[AdminAssistant]

When I went to the clinic to see about my headaches, my doctor actually suggested seeing a counselor AND said, "well, I could be wrong, but I think it's..." I was just shocked that he was trying to get to the root problem AND admitted that he wasn't certain. The doctors back home (one in particular) just give you meds - which is why both of my parents have addictions to psychiatric and pain medication. Because a MD decided he was qualified to put them both on Xanex without seeing a psychiatrist, and would give my Dad whatever painkillers he wanted. That doctor is retired now...but he does not ever want to run into me in a dark alley.

[Seshat]

It's a bit trickier for doctor's to admit that they're wrong or made a mistake. If I scerw up at work, I say so and get praised for my responsibility and honesty. If a doctor admits they screwed up, they can get sued. And if their insurance companies find out they admitted fault, they can withdraw coverage. And a doctor can't practice without malpractice insurance.

The US is excessively legislative in my opinion.

As I understand our system, simple wrong diagnosis is not deemable as malpractice; so long as the doctor pays proper attention. (I may be wrong.)

Simple illness can be diagnosed correctly the first time - an X-ray shows a broken bone, an increase in white blood cells and antibodies for bacterium Blah indicates an infection by bacteria Blah.

But some illnesses are rarely diagnosed correctly the first time, or are complex to diagnose, or are diagnoses of exclusion. And in such cases, you need a doctor who is prepared to go through however many diagnostic attempts are necessary to find the right diagnosis.

And you need a medico-legal standard and a culture that accepts this fact. Because it just plain IS, and there's no way around it short of magic.
(Or sufficiently advanced technology, which we don't have but Star Trek apparently does.)

I suppose if the medico-legal system and the culture are both unwilling to support diagnoses of exclusion or complex-to-diagnose illnesses, it's got to be bloody hard for doctors to actually do their jobs properly.

[The Shadow]

However, you should be able to get the dirt on a doctor by researching them with the medical board. Sometimes customer sites can be pretty overdramatic, as I'm sure we all know.

This is exactly what I was thinking. For some time now, CS has always had a section where we can make fun of the complaints submitted by SCs over at planetfeedback. Now of course it just stands to reason that because so many of us see and deal with this on a day to day basis, those complaints are usually taken with a grain of salt. So why would you assume that what's said about certain doctors on a review site is any more credible? So you're skeptical of everything that's submitted to PFB, but somehow what's said about doctors elsewhere must be gospel truth? Something doesn't add up here.

[tabbyblack13]

I'm currently looking for a new doctor here. I am wary of online sites due to the amount of people who are willing to complain. I am also wary of site that require me to pay to see a doctor's rating. I finally got a recommendation from a coworker and I am willing to try it do to the fact that several of my coworkers go there. All but one has give this place a good review and they are very honest about how they fell about this doctor. If there is a potential for a problem I would like to know before I go there.