Member-only story
Why Your Doctor Doesn’t Listen to You
A Mayo Clinic physician tells how to make your doctor pay attention
Scenario 1: You’re in the exam room, sitting in an open-backed gown. You and your doctor have discussed your high blood pressure (stay on the same medication) and your diet (you reluctantly agree that you need to try to make healthier choices to control cholesterol). Your doctor makes a note on the computer screen, jumps up, and heads to the door. With a hand on the doorknob and a “see you next year,” your doctor is about to disappear. Bam! Out the door!
“Wait,” you say. “I have more questions.” But your twelve-minute visit is over, and you never mentioned the blood in your stool, and you meant to ask about the funny mole on your back.
Scenario 2: You’re in the exam room, sitting in an open-backed gown. Your blood pressure and weight were taken by the intake nurse. In breezes the doctor who looks at the lab work and decides to up your dose of a statin drug for your heart.
You say, “I saw a commercial about taking CoQ10 for my heart.”
And the doctor says, “Oh, those darned commercials. Patients come in here all the time wanting this drug or that supplement.”
“So should I take CoQ10 because I take a statin?” you ask.
