Quote Originally Posted by DuncanONeil View Post
I still think my comment; "Also you continue to assume that the doctor has no understanding of the patient they are seeing nor any understanding of how they can be helped.
Comparing people to cars is insulting, cars can not think or feel!", stands.

I did use the term understand not compassion. The car comment was directed at something Sadistic said. But your rebuttal does not seem to have the medicos referring to patients in the manner they "refer" to themselves. As for remembering, we all give differing portions of the data we are assailed with different priorities. I know I do! Things that are in a given place, readily available to me, does not require me to have those items in priority memory files.
Further I agree that being a member of the Grey school of medicine vs the Yang school can use you up very fast! But the thing we want doctors to do most of all is "fix" us. Why? Because there is something "wrong". After that I expect them to talk to me not at me.
I still find the idea that you think doctors should be able to give placebo's to patients is grossly inconsistent with your stated desire to lower malpractice claims.

I'm not saying doctors are going to be wrong often with placebo's but I think even if they are wrong 1 time in 1000 patients that is going to be a large number of lawsuits. I think the claim that doctors aren't perfect is rather reasonable and backed up by the data.

Even if 999 out of 1000 patients that are given placebo's do better than those who are not, the doctors have no business giving out placebo's because when they are wrong its going to be a serious mistake.

What kind of damages do you think an insurance company will have to pay when the following situation occurs:

(i) Doctor diagnoses patient as a hypochondriac
(ii) Doctor proscribes placebo
(iii) Patient thinks placebo is working and doesn't see a doctor again until their next regular checkup.
(iv) Patients symptoms were actually related to cancer which is discovered at this checkup roughly a year later.
(v) Patient eventually dies as a result of the cancer.

In situations like this the damages can be colossal because for many cancers survival rates are very good for early diagnosis, while for later diagnosis survival rates are far worse. Cases like these are easy to win and easier to get a big settlement on, because the doctor is involved in deceiving the patient which results in them not seeking other treatments or care.