One of my stated goals for this blog is to try to discuss and so help improve the doctor-patient relationship. There is a disturbing article in today’s New York Times which claims that the doctor-patient relationship is “on the rocks”. That many patient no longer trust doctors. And that the advent of the Internet has affected things, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Finally, there are problems endemic to our health care system which frustrate both doctors and patients. I will have a lot more to say about this topic. In the meantime here are some excerpts from today’s article:
Doctor and Patient, Now at Odds
By Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times, July 29, 2008
“A growing chorus of discontent suggests that the once-revered doctor-patient relationship is on the rocks. . . increasingly, research and anecdotal reports suggest that many patients don’t trust doctors. . . The Internet is bristling with frustrated comments from patients.
“Doctors say they are not surprised. “It’s been striking to me since I went into pract