“Mr. Smith, how can I tell you what’s true, when I’m not being told the truth?”
I have recently found myself having this conversation with patients, much like everybody reading this where in all honesty I must say to a patient “How can I tell you what’s true when I’m not being told the truth?”
I’m sure there’s no need to go overboard in this article as every single physician I speak to can cite their own examples. Maybe it wasn’t as obvious but things have sure gotten worse over the last three years.
The bigger question now is what are we going to do about it? At this stage, I don’t have any answers.
Patients are very concerned. How is it when they ask that you “As my physician you can’t give me a solid answer on…
Whatever the topic, be it a new medication trial, government recommended immunization strategies, care planning for my child or myself.
Can we no longer even trust our own journals? Sadly no. Just look at some of the retractions, corrections, and updates.
This is also why I love Direct Primary Care! I’m not being forced to spout somebody’s narrative or something I don’t trust when physicians far brighter than me disagree with the “facts”.
More and more, I find myself going into deeper medical information searches and so often trust empiricism, colleagues and my gut more than anything else. When I’m not sure on something, I tell my patient the same thing and diligently search for answers.
And you know what? Patients understand and respect this now more than ever as they have lost all trust as well. This is one of the biggest reasons patients are seeking out Direct Primary Care.
And if any branch of medicine was ever better suited to fix the current Information mess, it is direct primary care.
I am unconvinced by the urgent rush of requests for RSV vaccination of elders. I am old enough to recall when medical opinions went from observation to study to physicians weighing the evidence. We are seen as the financial choke point in medical sales. I have never seen an adult RSV sick enough to work up for cause. I have been around RSV for decades by sheer clinical exposure. Patients come in to get IT – IT being the vaccination against the Black Friday virus. One patient in his 80’s wanted RSV plus Gardisil. Because it’s there and I want it, now. This is how advertising works. It’s similar to propaganda. Smooth down the counter clerks egos, to just deliver product. Disparage the obstacles to pushing product. Worked for the first great commercial success, OxyContin.