I recently changed doctors.\u00a0 In fact, I switched to two new specialists because the first two kept trying to sell me things.\u00a0 It bothers me when I’m in a vulnerable state, which we always are in a doctor’s examining room,\u00a0when\u00a0after checking what I went there for,\u00a0he\/she suggests I partake of products offered for sale\u00a0on the premises.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My\u00a0Dermatologist\u00a0began to push\u00a0expensive services which are\u00a0cosmetic in nature.\u00a0 I have nothing against cosmetic Dermatology,\u00a0but that wasn’t the reason for my visit.\u00a0 However, after he excised\u00a0the suspicious sunspots on my skin, I asked about a reddish place\u00a0on my face, wondering if it was anything to worry about, and by way of answering my concern, he\u00a0said “Just a minute, let me bring in my laser people.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could decline, the door to the examining room opened, the doctor exited, and a woman carrying laser brochures entered.\u00a0 She\u00a0looked me over and surmised\u00a0that for about $5,000-$6,000 for several treatments, she could make the\u00a0reddish spots\u00a0disappear.\u00a0 I asked,\u00a0“But will they come back?”\u00a0The answer was\u00a0yes,\u00a0“But you can always repeat\u00a0the laser procedure again in the future.”<\/p>\n
The other doctor I said goodbye to was my eye doctor.\u00a0\u00a0He’d had a shop\u00a0adjacent to his office for some time, but\u00a0they’d never tried to sell me things, so I walked past his\u00a0boutique\u00a0 filled with designer eyeglass frames and headed to a less expensive dispensary to get my\u00a0prescriptions filled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The last visit, though, consisted of one part exam and three\u00a0parts sales.\u00a0 First the receptionist pointed me to the shop\u00a0and suggested I browse while waiting.\u00a0 Then the doctor finished the exam and\u00a0left the room, returning with several eyeglass frames from his selection.\u00a0 I declined.\u00a0 And then I declined to make another appointment there.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0isn’t new, but it’s recently begun to bother me more.\u00a0It’s not that I resent doctors finding new ways to make money,\u00a0especially with insurance companies paying less of the cost of care,\u00a0but\u00a0I want\u00a0to\u00a0feel that\u00a0my health is more important to them than their sales.\u00a0 I don’t even care if it’s true,\u00a0 just so I can continue to pretend\u00a0it’s so.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe you can separate science from sales, healing from hype, but I\u00a0can’t.\u00a0 For me, getting a sales pitch along with an exam is full-service intimidation and I’m not willing to participate in\u00a0practices (pardon the lame\u00a0wordplay) that make me feel unsettled when I’m trying to look after my health.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u00a0learned that you can Google doctors\u00a0and read patient reviews.\u00a0 Not that someone else’s opinion is the final word, but I did find some\u00a0reviews that\u00a0mention whether\u00a0the doctor pushes products as often as medical care.<\/p>\n
It’s not just doctors.\u00a0 Decades ago, at a meeting with\u00a0the minister who would perform our\u00a0wedding ceremony, the preacher chatted with us for a few minutes, then\u00a0handed us a packet containing brochures about life\u00a0insurance.\u00a0 He was pastoring full time, but selling insurance on the side.\u00a0 We wondered,\u00a0is he in touch with Someone who has knowledge of our future?\u00a0\u00a0Does he know something we don’t?\u00a0\u00a0There we were,\u00a0young and in love, headed to our meeting with questions about the ceremony, but we left\u00a0worrying about our beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
I’m all for “additional revenue streams.”\u00a0 I embrace our capitalistic society, but\u00a0assuming\u00a0I can find them, I’ll continue to seek out doctors (and ministers) who stick to the\u00a0main product I’m there for.\u00a0<\/p>\n