Practicing Medicine without a License: When Patients and Politicians Play Doctor

BY MICHAEL KIRSCH We’ve all heard the adage, leave it to the professionals.  It’s typically used when an individual has wandered out of his lane.  How many folks go beyond their knowledge and skills with home projects, for example, who must then hire a real professional to mop up the mistakes?  Luckily for me, the only tools that I – a gastroenterologist – know how to use are a colonoscope and an endoscope, so there’s no chance that I will be tempted to perform any plumbing or electrical tasks at home.   Although patients are not medical professionals, they routinely bring me results of their own medical research which suggest possible diagnoses and treatments.  Often, these are patients whom I am meeting for the first time.  I applaud patients who strive to be informed participants in their care. Indeed, there have been instances when a patient has brought me a valuable suggestion that I had not considered.  But these are uncommon occurrences.  A few computer clicks by a patient is not equivalent to the judgment and experience of a seasoned medical professional.  It’s unlikely, for example, that I will agree that a patient’s elevated temperature is caused by malaria, despite this appearing on a patient’s internet search on the causes of fever.   However, even when I feel that a patient’s research results have no medical merit, the ensuing conversation is always valuable for both of us.  I a...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Policy Medical Marijuana Medical Practice medical professionals michael kirsch politicians Source Type: blogs