opinion
When patients demand certain treatments
■ Connected coverage - selected articles on trends, challenges and controversies in the changing world of medicine.
Posted June 18, 2012
Connected Coverage
Selected articles on trends, challenges and controversies in the changing world of medicine.
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Patients are encouraged to take more control of their health. The upside of that is more engaged patients, working with doctors and others to ensure that they stay in the best condition. The downside is that sometimes patients are convinced that they have a certain ailment, or need a certain treatment, and doctors have to tell patients they're wrong.
American Medical News has reported about what patients are asking about, including common unwarranted antibiotic requests and far-flung worries that come from attempts at online self-diagnosis. We also have presented strategies that physicians can use to help get patients the correct care while not discouraging them from educating themselves about their health.
New curriculum helps residents talk about vaccine safety
What do physicians do when confronted by patients convinced that vaccines will only hurt themselves or their loved ones? A vaccine safety curriculum being distributed to primary care residency programs nationwide is meant to ensure that doctors know what to do and say when that happens. Read story
Cyberchondria: the one diagnosis patients miss
With patients increasingly turning to the Internet to research what might ail them, doctors must deal with patients with unfounded illness anxieties. There are ways that physicians gently can steer patients away from their online diagnosis toward a more accurate reading of their health. Read story
Do you practice in an antibiotic-prescribing hot spot?
Physicians have been enlisted in the fight against antibiotic resistance by being asked not to prescribe the drugs for illnesses that don't require them. But the success of that effort varies widely by state. Read story
