Scared of your doctor?

So I have this friend who won’t go to the doctor to get a refill for her migraine meds even though she only has two left. No meds will mean debilitating headaches. Why won’t she go? Because she hasn’t done any of the recommendations the doctor gave her.

Um, yeah, no one does what their doctor says. Science has proven that. Here is an example from an article by Anne Zieger on FierceHealthcare.com: “According to a report by the New England Healthcare Institute, from one-third to one-half of patients in the U.S. don’t take their medications as their physicians ordered. Some don’t pick up or renew prescriptions, some don’t take their meds in the proper doses or on schedule, and some stop taking them completely.”

And here is a study from the Annals of Emergency Medicine that found that after an ER visit, 12% of patients didn’t even get their prescription filled, 26% didn’t make a follow-up appointment even though they were told to, and 33% didn’t bother to show up to their follow-up appointments.

In my case, I just hang my head and fess up to being a normal human being. Your medical care is better when you tell the truth. But, in my opinion, if you are that ashamed of your negligent behavior there is another alternative: lie. Just fuckin’ lie. You’re not going in to get your cholesterol checked, you need migraine meds.

Although I usually don’t lie, I at least consider it as an option. For example, in a case like this, I would consider exaggerating the severity or frequency of the headaches to get a better prescription or more refills or whatever. I usually don’t, but I THINK of it at least. If shame was keeping me in excruciating physical pain, you can bet your ass I’d lie about whatever it was.

-Jennifer

Featured image “Dr. Payne – Chat Archive” license and attribution information:
  by stendarker