NY Times case – When a complaint is really a complaint:

These are the people who can tolerate a bit less discomfort or uncertainty than the average person. These are the patients who cry wolf. The only trouble is, sometimes there really is a wolf. The challenge for the doctor is knowing when.

Comments

gasman
Only difference is that Aesop’s boy who cried wolf never went on to file suit…. modern wolf-criers are not so likely to take their lumps without deciding there is someone else to blame.
Anonymous
there’s a good lesson here to be more aggressive in evaluating these type of people…never let your guard down. remember, it’s no skin off your back to send the patient to the e.r. for a belly scan…if it’s abnormal…you’re a hero, if it’s normal…you’ve wasted the patient’s time (I don’t think anybody’s going to lose sleep over that!)
Samson Isberg
If I remeber correctly, the boy in Aesop’s fable was eaten by the wolf…not easy to file a suit then.
The problem with these wolf-criers is not only that they waste their own time and their doctors, but the countless exams they demand are actually dangerous – not even the old plain chest x-ray is an indifferent procedure; people die from bronchoscopies, too much lab work can lead you to the Ulysses syndrome.
But if you feel you can ward off a lawsuit that way, why not? Defensive medicine is here to stay.
SarahW
Oh, come on. Looking in a guy’s throat is not particularly risky to a patient or burdensome to the health care system.
Anonymous
When’s the last time one of us just “looked in a guys throat”? Who knows, a sore throat may be an early sign of leukemia, better get that CBC “just in case”. We’ve all heard of a case of a sore throat coming back 3 days later…..and then the family filed suit…
Kathleen
It all started with a pain in my side, vomitting. I went to the doc whom basically said it was nothing but my gallbladder, Gallbladder came out, pain got worse. I went back. I was told it was post op pain. “I cried wolf.” Long story short, 6 erpcs, 2 eus’s, 1 sphictototomy, 1 whipple later, and guess what?? I’m still not well and am now looking at the TP/ICT. Turned out, when i cried wolf, my biliary was in a ball and took 1 1/2 hours to unravel. So yeah, CRY WOLF, docs, do the belly scans…LISTEN to the patient and hear what they AREN’T saying as well as what they are saying. Thank you.

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