Are We Forcing Our Doctors to Prescribe Unnecessary Tests?

May I ask a personal question?

Be honest now….

If you went to the doctor and he told you that your symptoms were all in your head, would you be insulted?

Or, if your doctor, who looks like a Junior High School kid, told you that the dark spot that had popped up on your face was merely a “liver spot”, would you believe her?

Or if your physician’s assistant had the audacity to suggest that the worrisome aches and pains that you complained of were just a natural part of growing old, would you thank him and consider yourself lucky?

I ask these questions because, being unemployed and no longer having health insurance, I haven’t been to see a doctor for almost two years. It has done wonders for my blood pressure and has, I suspect, improved my overall health.

That may seem like a bizarre statement, but let me explain….

When I first moved here three and a half years ago, I went to a doctor and got a full physical. I had insurance at the time and I thought that would be the best way to get acquainted with a new doctor and let him get acquainted with me.

Besides, I am of a certain age when it seems wise to keep on top of such pesky things as the threat of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and cancer. I have a family history, in fact, of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and cancer. You can’t be too careful, right?

Well, maybe you can. The doctor took my medical history and my family medical history and asked me how I was feeling. I mentioned one thing and another. Some heart palpitations, aching wrists, light-headedness. Let me see, was there anything else? Might as well get my money’s worth.

Ah-ha! Might as well get my money’s worth. I suspect the doctor was thinking the same thing. After all, the hospital had gone to the expense of getting all this diagnostic equipment, why not use it? Of course, it costs an arm and a leg but the patient has insurance and that’s what you buy insurance for, isn’t it? To pay for medical diagnoses and treatments when you need them?

“When you need” is the operative phrase. Other than being overweight and stressed out, I wasn’t really in ill health. But I had gone to the doctor and I had complained of some problems and I did have this family history….

The doctor arranged appointments with a cardiologist, an endocrinologist, an orthopedist and a neurologist. EKGs, stress tests, nerve conduction tests, MRIs, X-rays, various dyes, lions, tigers, and bears, oh, my!

Sure enough, I was diagnosed with heart arrythmia, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis in various joints, acid reflux and a thyroid that has a mysterious shadow that bears watching. I was put on a heart monitor, given prescriptions for various medications, and scheduled for further appointments – and futher tests – with the spccialists.

The one thing that nobody paid any attention to – because I didn’t mention it – because I knew what the problem was and suspected that they couldn’t do anything about it – was my wonky ankle which eventually forced me to quit work, become unemployed, and lose my health insurance. Go figure!

I have to wonder now: if I had not gone for that physical, or if I had just kept my mouth shut and not spouted all my physical aches and pains and neurotic conce
s, or if my doctor had not felt it necessary to order all kinds of exotic and expensive tests but had limited himself to a hands-on examination, or if he had said to me, “Well, obviously you’re overweight and it sounds like you might be stressed out – let’s just take a wait-and-see approach,” would I be any worse off tha
I am now?

Is it possible that as we grow older and become aware of the aging process, we become worried and go to our doctors not for unending tests and esoteric specialist but for a little reassurance?

And is it possible that because we cannot accept the truth – that we are overweight, stressed, and getting older – we force our doctors to prescribe tests and specialists that we don’t really need?

I suspect that that is the case with me – and maybe it is with you, too.

Of course, let me be very clear in saying this: if I were having sharp pains in my chest or numbness in my feet, I would go to the doctor whether I had insurance or not. If you are suffering any symptoms of a serious medical problem, see your doctor immediately. But if you just want someone to hold your hand and reassure you – very valid and legitimate needs – talk to a friend or family member. And be prepared to hear, and accept, the truth.