“Doctors Are Killing Their Profession, the Healthcare System and Their Patients with Paternalism”

That’s the strongest language yet in our “Why Participatory Medicine” series. And it’s not our words – it’s the words of a board certified neurosurgeon after he heard the Participatory Medicine message at Medicine 2.0 last month. The message echoed his thoughts, and he blogged about it.

The “DocPatient” blog, by Dr. Louis Cornacchia of Doctations, has quite a tagline:

Internet healthcare is inevitable. Done right, it can initiate enormously positive change in the U.S. healthcare system. The only way for it to be done right is for doctors and patients to work together to make it happen.

Sounds like participatory medicine to me!

And my Google Alert just popped up a post he wrote shortly after the conference: “Doctors Are Killing Their Profession, the Healthcare System and Their Patients with Paternalism.” Even I wouldn’t put it that strongly, but then I’m not an MD – and I’ve certainly never been through medical training, about which he says:

Every day, medical schools indoctrinate upcoming doctors with paternalistic behaviors. “Your patients don’t want to know the details, they want to get well, its your responsibility to make them well.” “You, doctor, should shoulder the responsibility.”

About paternalism itself, he continues:  Read more