I always liked my primary care doctor personally. He routinely welcomed me to his office with a cheery hello and a smile. We asked about each other's children. We often discussed our respective exercise regimens, running in his case and pickup basketball in mine. For more than 20 years, we even confided about our ambitions as writers.
But I often questioned his judgment in medical matters.
Take, for example, the time my neck bothered me. I complained to him about frequent soreness and stiffness – probably a result of spending hours planted in front of a computer. He suggested I obtain a neck brace to wear while working. "Is that necessary?" I asked him. No, he said.
At no point did he ask me where my neck hurt, or how much, or how often. He never physically examined my neck, nor instructed me to turn my head in order to observe my range of motion. He neglected to propose I do specific exercises to rehabilitate my neck or get a new chair or just take frequent breaks from sitting at a keyboard.
Rather, he advised me to see an orthopedist or physiatrist. He also printed out some medical journal articles about neck problems for me to read, all well over my head.
Some time later, my annual physical revealed my overall cholesterol level to be borderline high. "I should probably put you on a statin," my doctor said. "I could prescribe Lipitor." "Would that be necessary?" I asked him. No, he said.
"It's a trend that reflects the state of medicine today," Dr. Danielle Ofri, associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and author of "What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear," told me. "Physicians are so risk-averse they prescribe medications as a default and reflexively refer patients to specialists. It's systemic."
What to do? After all, this was my health here. As a lifelong recreational athlete and fitness enthusiast, I'd entered my 60s healthy, but eventually – inevitably – my age would catch up with me. Was I going to risk my longevity to avoid hurting my doctor's feelings? I needed a physician I respected and trusted. Should I stick with the status quo or take a hike?
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/well/live/why-i-almost-fired-my-doctor.html?
