Many patients continue to believe that the best doctors are the ones who do the most tests - and that the more expensive the test , the better the doctor !
They also naively believe that the best doctor is the one who does the most expensive treatments , and charges the most for these. After all, if he charges more , he must be adding some special value . And if other patients are willing to pay the extra he charges, this means that they also think that he is better than all the rest .
Many doctors are quite happy to play this game of one-upmanship. They want to prove that they are better than other doctors , which is why they will order the latest tests ( which are often the most expensive ones) . They do this not because these tests are actually helpful, but in order to show off to patients that they are up to date with the latest technology. They use tests which are supposed to assess the immune response, or to analyse reproductive genetics , and these are peppered with fancy medical jargon, which no one understands, which makes them sound even more impressive !
Sadly, these tests are unproven, and patients don't realize they're being used as guinea pigs . Please remember that just because a test is new and expensive , this doesn't mean that the test is better . However, unless patients arm themselves with reliable information , they will not be able to ask the doctor intelligent questions, or push back when the doctor prescribes exotic and esoteric tests.
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