"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
Perceptions: I've often wondered how truthful patients are when they communicate to their families about their medical conditions. I have some patients who tell me out and out that they don't tell their families anything because "it's none of their business." This morning, I saw a man in the hospital who I never thought would misrepresent his condition, or my opinion, but I learned otherwise when I accidently overheard his phone conversation with his wife. Our hospital keeps the patient charts in a fold-down desk mounted on the walls outside the rooms. As I was writing my note in his chart I couldn't help but hear him talking to his wife on the phone. "The doctor just left. Hey, is she pregnant? She's getting quite a little belly on her." (Hmmmm. Better hit the tread mill more and the cookies less.) Then he started to tell her what I had told him, none of which was accurate or true. He put words in my mouth I never would have said. Granted, they were all harmless words, but they all made him sound like he's doing better than he is. No wonder families get angry at physicians when things go bad. posted by Sydney on
3/06/2003 09:16:00 AM
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