by Keisha Richards

Created on: December 20, 2009

Doctors are people and medicine is becoming more and more of a business and market, so I would not fully trust a doctor.  The economy is suffering today and there are less people who can afford health insurance.  This means more people are paying out of pocket for their visits to the doctor no matter how sick they are.  Unfortunately, this means more people are just not seeing their doctor at all.  Of course, this means the doctors are not being paid as much as they would in a healthy economy.  I feel like some doctors take advantage of those who are sick and able to pay for their office visits.  I have heard many stories of doctors telling patients they are very ill, when in fact they had some simple, easily treatable sickness.  I know of a man in my hometown who was told he had cancer.  He sold his entire business to just enjoy life to the fullest and spend time with family.  It turned out he did not have cancer at all.  He gave up his business for nothing, but the doctor was enjoying the benefits of being paid with each visit.  I have been to see the doctor myself and had the doctor walk in and barely take a glance at me, give me a diagnosis as well as an order for bloodwork and a prescription that I have to pay out of pocket for, and ask to me to come back in a week.  That quickly added up to hundreds of dollars when I had just a stomach virus and needed only time and lots of fluids.

It's frightening sometimes.  Not only are some doctors trying to find ways to earn more money, some of them do not even seem competent, at least where I come from.  My mother saw a doctor for pain in her right ear.  She explained that well to the nurse and  the doctor, but when the doctor came into the exam room he immediately began to irrigate her left ear.  He had to be reminded a second time.  I can also recall a time when I took my sister to the emergency room because she was bleeding out of her right ear.  They had to wake the doctor up and when he came in, he didn't look inside her ear at all before he sent her out with drops and ibuprofen.  I'm glad she saw a specialist, because her eardrum had ruptured.

Doctors are people just like you and me.  Unfortunately, many people are quick to put themselves before others and doctors are no exception.  If times are tough, I truly believe a doctor would make it seem that a patient could possibly be more ill than they are.  Doctors run many tests sometimes out of caution, but I feel like sometimes they could run those same extra tests to earn more money on the bill when the patient comes back to review results.

I have tried to use the word "some" when referring to these doctors which I would not trust, because not all doctors have those characteristics.  You have to pay attention as a patient.  Make sure your doctor is taking the time to listen because he or she cares about really helping you to heal and not because he needs more money.  Not all doctors can be fully trusted.

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