“Common Sense Is Not So Common” (What We All Need to Remember)

“Common Sense Is Not So Common” (What We All Need to Remember): "Rule 2: Common sense occurs uncommonly. This aphorism is usually attributed to Voltaire. Over the years, I have seen many violations of this important rule in clinical medicine. Physicians should exercise common sense before ordering tests or performing therapeutic interventions. Examples abound in support of this rule. Recently, I saw a 60-year-old diabetic woman in my office. She had been admitted to our hospital several weeks earlier with a single bout of rest angina. Her cardiac catheterization revealed modest coronary arterial stenoses, and she was placed on medical therapy with brand name medications by another cardiologist: a statin, an angiotensin receptor blocker, and clopidogrel. Subsequently, I first saw her in my office. At that time, she and her family told me that they had paid more than $500 for 1 month's supply of the medicines that had been prescribed in the hospital. I quickly altered her regimen to include generic forms of a statin and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, as well as 325 mg of aspirin. These new generic prescriptions would cost the patient less than $20 per month. Common sense should have been used earlier by the inpatient attending physician simply by informing the patient that generic brands cost less than brand name pharmaceuticals. As noted by Harvey Cushing (1869-1939), “Three-fifths of the practice of medicine depends on common sense, knowledge of people and of human reactions.”2 I would add knowledge of the patient's ability to pay for the medicines prescribed."

This is useful for both doctors and their patients to remember. Your doctor may be the expert on your disease - but you are the expert on your body and your illness. Doctors without common sense can be hazardous to your health , so please use yours !