That being said, when is it right to question the authority of a doctor or other medical professional? What defines when it is okay or not? When going to a doctor a person definitely has to put their trust in that doctor and his/her knowledge of medicine and respect them for that, but it is your body or that of a loved one that you may be concerned about. At what point or in what way would it become disrespectful of a doctor to question their authority, and how important of a consideration is this? What would you do if you thought a doctor was missing something important?
How should a doctor react if a person raises specific concerns about how they or their family member is being treated medically? How much should this depend on the manner in which they were approached, and should they allow it to change their treatment, particularly if the patient or family member brings up a valid point? How would you react, if you were a doctor?
I'm really curious to see what you guys think. I know I asked a lot of questions, so feel free to answer whichever ones you like.
10 comments:
I think that you should be able to question doctors without going overboard about it. I mean, there is no reason to challenge him or her when they prescribe 10mg of something and you thought 11mg was correct. The main thing is to pick your battles wisely. You are going to seen as a nuisance if you ask about every little thing. Chances are good that doctors, like any other authority figure, will stop listening to you all together if you question them too much. In fact, I have a personal example for this point.
About this time last year, my brother fell very ill and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. During his week there, we were specifically told to not "monitor watch". This means that the doctors and nurses did not want to be called in for every little blip on the screen or every small bell that rang. I got the impression that they think that family members of sick individuals are hyper-vigilant and question nearly everything that medical professionals do. Because of this, my family tried to relax a little bit and let things run on their own. However, about a week after being admitted, my brother's condition began to deteriorate quickly. He began to have seizures. Being a hyper-vigilant sibling, I had noticed, or thought I had noticed, something going wrong two days before. I never said anything because we were told that his neurosurgeon was going to come and check on him. It was only until he started having seizures that we saw that doctor. However by that time, it was too late. My brother's brain had started hemorrhaging and he died. Pretty much all the doctor said was "There is nothing we can do."
While I do not blame the doctors nor the nurses for his death, I cannot help think if things would have turned out differently if we had demanded to see the neurosurgeon sooner.
So no, I do not think that questioning medical authority is wrong. In fact, I think that it may even help save lives. The important thing is to question about the big things instead of asking why they only checked your pulse rate for 55 seconds instead of a full minute.
I think that everyone should be able to question their doctor, but I also think telling or asking a doctor something that questions their authority can be handled in a tasteful way, but going along with this, I also think a good portion of doctors know what they are talking about, but there are cases, such as Ben's mom where the doctors just fail epically.
If I were a doctor and brought up a valid point, as Ben stated, I believe that I would check into it. For example (with a vet, not a people doctor), my brother's cat, one time, had gotten punctured with something that formed a perfect circle the size of a lollipop stick. My brother looked that up online to see what it could be and there was a bug that makes a similar looking hole in animals, then buries in the skin, repreduces, etc, very gross in summary. So we told the vet that we suspected that might have been what it was. She looked into our suggestion and rinsed out the wound, etc etc, but when we picked him up she said she could see nothing buglike in the wound, so turns out it was just from getting snagged on a fence of a piece of metal or something, but the point is that she listened to our concerns and looked into it. I think this would be an appropriate way to handle concerns brought up by patients, (or their owners :P).
I think that it is ok to question a doctor's authority when you have a valid reason for such questioning, but you must have a certain level of respect for health care professionals. I think it is perfectly ok for people to ask doctors the how and why of the treatments they prescribe for them or their families. If someone raised any questions, I think that it comes with the job for the doctor to explain why they are taking a specific course of action and address any concerns. Also, when possible, patients and their families have every right to get a second opinion if they feel their doctor is wrong or is missing something.
On the flip side, questioning a doctor's authority can be very bad as well. For example, if a doctor prescribes antibiotics for an infection and the patient does not take their full prescription despite doctors orders because they assume they don't need them, they could allow drug-resistant diseases to evolve. It's also not the best to question by refusing to take medicine. Now, i realize that sometimes doctors prescribe the wrong medicine or misdiagnose people, but that's where the second opinion comes in. In that scenario, I don't think its the best thing to disregard a doctor's authority without all the facts.
I've also heard several stories about doctors misdiagnosing patients which is why it's important to go get at least a second opinion when the diagnosis is very serious or if what they prescribe you to treat your symptoms is not working. It's definitely a good thing to make sure you're asking important questions relating to your sickness when you do get diagnosed, because doctors are only human and so they can make mistakes too.
On the other hand, I've also seen people who question their doctors too much. They try and tell the doctor they're sick because of a certain reason when the doctor's telling them something completely different, and at that point I feel like you should trust the doctor because they are the ones who have several years of medical school behind them.
Finally, if I were a doctor who was treating a patient I would be completely open to their reasonable questions, and I'd try and explain why their unnecessary questions weren't necessarily important.
I think that questioning the authority of a doctor is completely acceptable because doctor's decisions can have serious, even fatal consequences. When there is so much at risk resting on one person's decison, we should always question their authority. We should not question it in a disrespectful way, but more as a caring check on what they are doing. If we are in a position to question a doctor's authority, it is probably a high-stress and serious situation, being cautious is necessary.
My papa had a stroke last year and one doctor came in and prescribed him one medication. I guess the shift changed and a new doctor came in to check on him and prescribed a different medicaiton. When we informed him what the first doctor had perscribed, he was in shock because it would have had horrible, even fatal effects. My mom and my aunties question everything because they are all so overly protective, the doctor was willing to listen to them and reassure all of their doubts. I think in any serious situation, questioning authority is allowed if done in the correct manner.
I've had a similar experience with this as well. When I was younger I was sick to my stomach for like two months. It was awful. My parents took me to the local doctor's office and she told us that I had heart problems and needed to get blood work done. Basically a bunch of crazy scary things. So we came up to the hospital here in Albuquerque and were told that it was some sort of virus, but nothing fatal (as the other doctor said). Needless to say, we NEVER went back to the first doctor again. :)
I've had a few scares when it comes to doctors looking for the wrong thing, or diagnosing the wrong problem. I think it's important that every patient knows that doctors are people too that make mistakes. You won't offend anyone by asking for a second opinion or if you seek another doctor. That being said, you have to respect the doctor's obvious knowledge of medicine. Never be disrespectful with a doctor if he/she is just trying to do their job. Always ask questions and show concern to a doctor. That's the best you can do to prevent problems.
I definitely agree with what Jimmy said. A second opinion is a patient's right, especially since we are paying our money for health care. It's not as if health care is a charity and we should be grateful for what doctors do as if it is a favor. If the second opinion agrees with the first, then we can be sure both doctors were doing what they medically believed. Medical malpractice is a legitimate concern and should be handled as such.
Jimmy and Kathleen both have excellent points, that I agree with. While trusting the doctor is extremely important, it is also necessary to remember that that doctors have their own failings. As my mother loves to say, "Even the botom of the class still gets to be an MD." As such, doctors can be challenged as well, so long as it serves a purpose. Quibbling over 4 cc versus 5 cc won't help anyone, but speaking up when necessary can make all the difference.
Recognizing the time and place when challenging a doctor is key- one shouldn't question their word just because the quickie Google search out in the hallway yielded a Wiki article on symptoms and treatment options. Knowing when to defer to the doctor's (or even doctors') judgement is just as important as knowing when to seek other options.
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