Comments on: UK doctors have to treat patients as individuals according to governing body

By: Article highlights the importance of ‘shared decision making’ when statins are being considered | Dr Briffa's Blog - A Good Look at Good Health

Fri, 28 Feb 2014 12:23:19 +0000

[…] do well to remember the respect the concerns and wishes of our patients. Not so long ago I wrote a piece which highlighted advice given by the regulatory body for UK doctors (the General Medical Council) […]

By: jake3_14

jake3_14 — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:59:45 +0000

Another US citizen here. I’ve completely given up on allopathic doctors in my health plan (Kaiser). The GPs/internists are not permitted to be anything more than robots on a patient consulation schedule. They refuse to engage in discussions about any relevant research I bring to their attention that contradicts their obsolete medical dogma, and they refuse to even perform diagnostic tests I suggest (LDL-P and salivary cortisol). I go to them now only for acute and severe medical problems.

For everything else, I’m consulting with an ND (naturopathic doctor) who loves that I do a bit of research and engages me as a true health consultant. I pay heavily out of pocket for this, but at least I get medical care based on current science and focused on causes rather than symptom management based on discredited health paradigms with drugs.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:58:46 +0000

Great article.

GP’s are very guilty of dismissing people who ask lots of questions and who want to be informed about the whys and what fors of their personal situation.

I love your blog, keep up the great work.

Best wishes,

Richard

By: A. Harney

A. Harney — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:58:44 +0000

Two weeks ago I went for a recommended blood glucose test. I said I did not want the cholesterol / lipid done.

The PA came to me and told me that I should leave and find another physician if I was going to be non-compliant. Wow! This was a young man with eight years experience.

He did finally agree to do just the blood glucose.

It is hard here in the US to find an MD that will take Medicare patients. Sad!!

By: gibsongirl

gibsongirl — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 02:13:47 +0000

My family practioner suggested a statin because I am T2 diabetic, even though my cholesterol was (and is) normal. I declined, and it was three years before he gave up. Even his assistant brought it up, so it must have been written on my chart!

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 01:00:33 +0000

Across the pond in the USA, the situation isn’t much better. I know more people who are afraid of their doctor than I know people who genuinely like them. And I can understand. As someone who’s been ignored, bullied, and pressured to do things I didn’t want to by doctors through most of my life, I’ve quite honestly lost respect for most of them. No offense, Dr. Briffa; I know there are good docs out there, but the ones I’ve had experience with in person didn’t seem to care much about my well-being.

By: helen maree

helen maree — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:01:27 +0000

Some doctors do listen to your questions and appear to be understanding and then they fob you off, oh very nicely but it amounts to a pat on the head and treatment you are not sure you want ……….it seems an awful lot of medical people think that because they have studied for years it some how entitles them to dictate what they learnt at med school as though it were the only way to do things ……….a lot of medical wisdom has been lost due to the focus on the drug solution to everything seems some doctors forget why they became doctors in the first place..I always thought it was because they loved people and wanted to help them stay well …seems not

By: Helen

Helen — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:32:06 +0000

When I was teenager and just embarking on my long career as a patient with multiple medical conditions, I used to wonder how old I would have to be before health service staff ceased to patronise me, condescend to me, or try to bamboozle, hector, coerce and insult me. Thirty years on, it turns out the answer is: never!

By: Gemma

Gemma — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:20:40 +0000

Thank you for debating this issue. Considering a comment by a doctor can amount to a hex, it is vital that mutual respect be given. While my blood tests show that I am clearly anaemic, my (female) doctor said that this was “perfectly normal in a menstruating woman”. (Why have the parameters then?).
Consultants are the worst. It is just not acceptable to question their pronouncements (in their opinion). It is this kind of behaviour and approach that made me lose all respect for the medical profession. It is now only reserved for specific individuals such as yourself as they need to prove themselves to me first.

By: Helen Howes

Helen Howes — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:33:23 +0000

My previous GP told me the “I wasn’t entitled to know where my liver was” Gobsmacked is not a serious enough word..

Current one treats me mostly like a grown-up, but if you really want to be handled badly, perm any three from Fat, Female, Fair, and Over Forty.. (I’m a thin diabetic, so fall alongside all the stools..)

Oh, and I’ve taken to refusing BP measurements in-surgery, and particularly in the hospital Outpatients departments, as they WILL NOT allow a 5-minute sit-down, and I know that one “high” reading will follow me around for years..

By: Lobo

Lobo — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:20:10 +0000

After reading the various “Cholesterol Con” books I decided that my supposedly “high cholestrol” level (anywhere from 5.4 to 6.5) was, for me , a non issue.

However, it was suggested to me that, if I wanted to stop having the Doctors trying to pressure me into taking Statins ( I was once tag teamed by three Doctors) I should write a letter to my surgery stating that I was aware of the “risks” of having high cholesterol but I would, none the less, request that all further efforts to have me take statins be discontinued.

I did write the said letter.