Do you now patients like these?
Every doctor knows patients like this. They’re called “brainsuckers.” By the time they come in, they’ve visited many other docs already “” somehow unable to stick with any of them. They have many complaints, which rarely translate to hard findings on any objective tests. They talk a lot. I often wonder, while waiting for them to pause, if there are patients like this in poor, war-torn countries where the need for doctors is more dire.
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{ 11 comments }
I can understand Dr. Haig’s frustration. Probably some sort of Axis 2 diagnosis here.
But honestly, isn’t this just consumerism run amok? Isn’t this what free marketers want, an informed, discretionary population spending their health care dollar as they see fit?
The blend we have now that drives doctors to “satisfy the customer” yet still serve some Health Goal is the frustration…Whom do we serve?
I have a name for doctors like that. You wouldn’t like it. I think he’s got diagnostic blinders, and he may have been wrong about his patient.
I suppose patients like this exist everywhere. Where people don’t have the privilege of passing off their payment responsibilities to others, doctor shopping has a natural brake. Where publicly-funded medical care makes expensive testing difficult to get due to government-imposed rationing, complainers might get a sympathetic ear and a pat on the hand and maybe an x-ray or two, but there again, the doctor shopping has an outside brake, long waits and limited-availability of referrals. In the USA, only Medicare patients, insured patients and the self-paying wealthy can “afford” wasteful consumption (excepting those who use EDs without paying.)
he’s a lump brain, have you read the article? When I first read the quoted section, I thought the reference was to some patient with a real but rare condition going through doctors trying to find one who would take symptoms seriosly and who could diagnose it – I have a rare condition and it took a few doctors and several years before it was diagnosed. But the patient described in the article is nothing like it. She sounds like someone who may annoy any specialist in any field she came to talk with.
“But engineers, as a class, are possibly the best patients. “
Nice to know
I think I saw this patient today. You only need one or two of these to ruin a pretty good week. And he is right. You can spot them within about 10 seconds.
i think the patient in the article is “he’s a lump brain”.
Not all Googlers are the same, ofcourse. Most like me, like to read/check up things just to be able to help ourselves with our illnesses, ask our docs the right questions and understand better what we are told by their docs. Most of us have Faith in the fact that our docs are there to help us, and we are ready to listen and ask some intelligent questions.
I’d have had a tough time with this patient also, not listening at all and on top being a totally irresponsible mother.
You can’t hate patients just because they google or ask questions. This woman is a bad example of a googler. Still, why couldn’t the doctor just be honest with her? Just told her what she thought, the reality of the treatment and that she knew so and so who is interested in her issue? I guess if the woman wouldn’t listen at all that would be a problem.
You HAVE to google now adays, because you can’t trust doctors- just look at some of the articles on this blog. What do you expect patients to do? We must take care of it ourselvs if the doctor won’t.
Health care is exclusively about turning a profit. I have rarely met a doctor that cares. All they want is more money, money, money.
Only one doctor I liked, for 10 years and then she let me go when I became a cash patient, of course.
Doctors always want me to go back all the time so they can charge me more, instead of solving things over the phone (after a visit) or all in one session. Any questions I ask irritate them, because they just want money. Or I “need” more expensive meds or tests. They know I am a cash patient, and are milking it for the maximum they think I will pay.
My current doctor is going to be fired because of this.
She charges me $120 to see her for 5 minutes, gives me no information, and wants me to go back all the time so I can pay her more and more money for less and less effective treatment.
Here is an example of this: She refuses to refill my medication I have been on for more than 10 years, that works and is safe. I know all the side effects and watch them carefully. It’s IMMITREX. I get horrible migranes. She wants me to go back and get a FULL physical, even though I had one last year, all clear, and I’m under 40 in decent health. Why would she do that? The physical costs over $300, plus all the in house tests she can charge me and make her little company rich. I have had a very hard time getting simple immitrex in the past because they want me to come by every 3 months or more, at $110+ each time for 5 minutes. And I guess they think the shots are really bad and they’d rather give me some damned opiate that not only does not relieve the headache but makes me sick- I had to throw it away, and find someone who would give me my Immitrex. They even told me a lie- that Immitrex is a controlled substance- to get me to go back. Doctors have lied to me so many times that I will never trust them. Once again, I have to find a doctor who will just GIVE ME MY medicine! On my own, googling and reading, tracking my symptoms, etc. I have found ways to reduce the need for the meds by up to 75%- unfortunately I can’t eliminate the need. I wish I could.
cash patient – why don’t you just go to the caribbean & BUY the imitrex (note the spelling)? it is over-the-counter in many third-world countries.
so if that’s what you KNOW you need & doctors just rip you off, then go ahead & self-diagnose & self-treat – that’d be cheaper, even with the flight to aruba.
To Mr. Happyman who is also a doctor:
Why don’t I just go to some dangerous third world country and buy their stuff? (yes, Aruba is dangerous for a single woman- remember Natalee Holloway?)
A. That is very fishy, even possibly dangerous. You never know what you get in those places- it’s hit or miss. I had that experience in a pharmacy, let alone over the counter. As a doctor I’m sure you know that.
B. The trip to Aruba, etc. is very expensive, probably more than $600 total plus potential rip off fees- they always get Americans in those places. I know- in Costa Rica where I have family, and went for some family issues, they would often double the price of everything when they saw an American coming. Many Americans I knew experienced the same thing. They DOUBLED the price of my Imitrex (Gee, spelling on a blog is SO important! I feel like I’m in second grade again!) to get it to US prices on my second trip to the pharmacy, and it was half the concentration marked on the box. That was from an OFFICIAL pharmacy, not over the counter.
YES I KNOW I NEED Imitrex- the migraine goes away!! It is often the ONLY thing that makes it go away. And I can function- no nausea, no other problems- only a little sleepy. When the first doctor in college gave me a sample of Imitrex, I was estatic about it. Finally, something that worked.
Without the pills, if the migraine is bad enough, I could have it for 5 DAYS with vomiting, unable to function.
Now I have been studying my migranes, tracking days, triggers, intensity, and have discovered many things no doctor could about them: If I work out aerobically at moderate intensity 3x a week for about one hour at a time their intensity is cut by UP TO 75%, and their frequency is cut by about half. I know they are related to my cycle- I can even predict the days I will get them, know what the avoidable triggers are, etc. I have been charting them for years now- yes, I have an Excel graph on it! I would love nothing more than to eliminate the need for the Imitrex. But doctors don’t want to hear about the last few parts- they want me to pay them and go away- they don’t give a darn. They don’t see themselves as giving a service to patients- they see their patients as giving service to them. So I do what I can to relieve my pain- put ice on my head, drink something cold, use a topical herbal remedy. These things work only for less intense migraines, but they cut back on what I need to take. I wish there was a doctor whom I could take all my data to and see what we could do to stop my headaches. But that will never happen- it’s too bad for their buisness. And in their minds I’m “just another whiny patient”. What I say is meaningless to them.
Why bother with the Caribbean trip? Unless you want the sunny vacation as well.
You can mail-order the medicine, and many of the sites play fast and loose with the requirement of a physician prescription.
This applies to controlled substances as well. I’ve learned this from patients I’ve encountered who developed addiction to narcotics ordered through the Net.
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