Friday, February 25, 2011

Doctor-Bashing Headlines

While I know it grabs the eye, it really didn't matter what the article was about:

Click image to enlarge


... the headline says it all: doctors are the problem, not the system, right?

-Wes

6 comments:

Elaine Schattner, MD said...

Wes, I don't know if the headline says quite that. But I agree it stirs distrust of physicians which, while sometimes appropriate, can cause harm.

Anonymous said...

You don't think this doctor is a problem? I certainly do. While "the system" must be held to account for its failures, "the system" didn't have sex with this doctor's patients or fill his office with weapons, ammunition, and cats.

firechief/MD said...

Dr Wes, a complete non-sequitor here but could use your help. Some time in the past, you mentioned pulseless patients who have implanted non-pulsitile cardiac pumps. A question came up in a recent CPR course. How do yo know you are dealing with such a patient, and if you are, is external cardiac compression of any value/danger??
I'd appreciate your advice here.

Lisa said...

Ummh, well the headline does set the stage for a poor opinion. But then nothing else in the rest of the article makes me believe that they are writing about a stable business leader, a pillar of the community.

R. Rosenbaum, MD said...

No. It says that this doctor is a problem, and the article says that there were warning signs ignored that should have removed this physician from his practice years ago.

Carolyn Thomas said...

I believe that it certainly DOES matter what the article was about. This doctor WAS a big problem - at least if you consider sexual abuse of patients, or assault weapons in an office described by police as a "pigsty", or state legislators describing him as "a danger to patients" as being a problem.

The "system" should have caught up with this guy years earlier, but you cannot possibly blame the system for the behavior choices of this individual.

And can you possibly be suggesting that the media should have somehow protected him because he happens to have the letters M.D. after his name?