Knowledge is power. Increasingly, patients are demanding and receiving access to levers in the medical machine that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. The informed consent process, which I support, can overwhelm ordinary patients and families with conflicting and bewildering options.
Television and the airwaves routinely advertise prescription drugs directly to the public. Consider the strategy of direct-to-consumer drug marketing when millions of dollars are spent advertising a drug that viewers are not permitted to purchase themselves. The public can now with a few clicks on a laptop, research individual physicians and hospitals to compare them to competitors. The Sunshine Act publicizes payments to physicians and hospitals by pharmaceutical companies and other manufacturers.
Every physician today has the experience of patients coming to the office presenting their internet search on their symptoms for the doctor’s consideration. “Yes, Mrs. Johnson, although it is true that malaria can cause an upset stomach, I just don’t think this should be our first priority.”
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