In The Atlantic, Meghan O’Rourke reviews a number of recent books authored by physicians and finds they’re all talking about “a corrosive doctor-patient relationship at the heart of our health-care crisis.”
“Ours is a technologically proficient but emotionally deficient and inconsistent medical system that is best at treating acute, not chronic, problems: for every instance of expert treatment, skilled surgery, or innovative problem-solving, there are countless cases of substandard care, overlooked diagnoses, bureaucratic bungling, and even outright antagonism between doctor and patient,” writes O’Rourke. “For a system that invokes ‘patient-centered care’ as a mantra, modern medicine is startlingly inattentive—at times actively indifferent—to patients’ needs. To my surprise, I’ve now learned that patients aren’t alone in feeling that doctors are failing them. Behind the scenes, many doctors feel the same way. And now some of them are telling their side of the story.”
Doctors Tell All—and It’s Bad (The Atlantic, November 2014)