June 23, 2013
Why do I care so much about patient-centered care, when most
doctors seem not to give it first priority?
Perhaps the fact that my father was chronically being
treated for his declining health also contributed. His excellent insurance
predisposed him to whimsical testing by doctors who never coordinated their
testing or medications with other specialists.
He was tested for every disease that could be billed by
insurance, had 17 medications, which increased every time I left the country
and was unable to supervise. For example, his doctors refused to discontinue
his Coumadin for years, despite the scientific, evidence-based medicine that
prescribed it unnecessary. My sisters contributed with their fear and their
blind trust of what the “real” doctors advised. Wars broke out at home over
what should be done. My mother was
exhausted with all the routines, all the pills, and all the testing. Her cooking and care kept him alive much more
than any of their drugs.
Three years before he died, he insisted that he wanted to
stop all the drugs. My mother panicked, aware of the rage of physicians who
depend on the visits for their income. It
took three months to help him discontinue all his medications, even those that
doctors insisted were life-sustaining: he did fine. We substituted them with
herbs like Triphala for his constipation instead of Dulcolax, gave him brahmi
and shankhapushpi instead of Lyrica, Wellbutrin, and Aricept. Many of his
conditions disappeared, and his memory and functionality continued. He died
peacefully just before his 83rd birthday.
Lesson learned: physicians who are not centered in their own
souls practice medicine that is not evidence-based, not patient-centered, and
not in the best interests of the medical ecosystem surrounding the patient.