The Hubris of "Medical Professionals"

This morning's email brought an angry letter from an anonymous nurse who told me that my views were worthless because she was a "medical professional" and I wasn't. No further information backed up this claim.

That made me think of the story I'd recently read in the Washington Post that documented just how ignorant "medical professionals"--in this case Doctors--can be.

Doctors Flunk Quiz about Supplements their Patients Use

There are two disturbing things in this study. One was that one third of 335 doctors did not know that the FDA doesn't regulate supplements and that no proof of supplements' efficacy is required before they are sold to the public. Almost two thirds did not know that they are supposed to report side effects from supplements to the FDA.

That's bad enough. But what is worse is this: After being given a brief course about supplements 9% of the doctors who had taken the course still flunked a quiz about supplements.

The torrent of email I get from patients who have been misdiagnosed with the wrong kind of diabetes, undiagnosed with blood sugars repeatedly over 200 mg/dl, told by their doctors that a "diabetes diet" is a low fat diet full of carbs, and left untreated with blood sugars high enough to give them the a1c of 7-8%-which represents average blood sugar of 172-207 mg/dl, convinces me that many doctors would flunk any test they were given about the current understanding of diabetes and its effective treatments.

Unfortunately, once a doctor goes into private practice, there is no requirement that he or she pass any test demonstrating that they have kept up with diabetes treatment. This is true, no matter how many patients with diabetes they treat. Doctors do have to take "continuing medical education" to retain their licenses but it is up to them what courses they take. If they aren't interested in diabetes, they can ignore it for the rest of their professional careers and many do.

I run into medical professionals from time to time who support what I do here. They aren't all self-satisfied egoists. But for those who are, let me stress this again, the appeal to authority won't impress any of us who use a blood sugar meter and our access to up-to-date medical research to determine the quality of advice dished out by medical professionals.

Copyright Janet Ruhl 2007. If you are NOT reading this on http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com the content has been STOLEN.