My Letter to the Editor of Time Magazine Re: Dr. Haig and his "Googler" Article
Tuesday November 13, 2007
I wrote a letter to the editor of Time magazine, regarding Dr. Scott Haig's "When the Patient is a Googler" article. Read it here. Mary Shomon
November 13, 2007
Richard Stengel, Time Magazine
Time & Life Bldg, Rockefeller Center
1271 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Dear Mr. Stengel:
I am writing regarding Dr. Scott Haig’s Nov. 8, 2007 article in Time, titled “When the Patient Is a Googler.” As a patient advocate, I am very dismayed at how Dr. Haig has derisively labeled empowered, informed healthcare consumers as “Googlers,” and even more derogatorily, as “brainsuckers.”
Dr. Haig deliberately highlights as his example of a “Googler” his experience with a truly obnoxious patient -- one who also brings along an ill-behaved and screeching toddler to her appointment. But while we “tsk tsk” right along with him at this shrill and pushy know-it-all and her screaming “little monster,” as Dr. Haig calls him, it’s easy to miss the real message behind Dr. Haig’s account: Just like misbehaving toddlers, patients should be seen and not heard.
Dr. Haig complains about his patient’s “excruciatingly well-informed questions.” When she is discussing medical topics with him, he ridicules her “misused, mispronounced words.” He describes her self-concern as “utter selfishness.” He laments that “by the time they come in, they've visited many other docs already — somehow unable to stick with any of them.” He complains bitterly that these patients “have many complaints, which rarely translate to hard findings on any objective tests.” And, worst of all for him, “they talk a lot.”
We get the point. Dr. Haig is irritated and inconvenienced by educated, empowered -- and yes, sometimes demanding and illogical -- patients. But Dr. Haig needs to realize that many patients must be “Googlers” -- for some it’s truly a matter of life and death. To navigate the health care maze, patients must ask smart, well-informed questions. Patients must do their research, and attempt to speak “medicalese” -- and yes, they will pronounce things incorrectly and make mistakes -- just like doctors do. Patients will have complaints that can't all be quantified on a test. Patients will talk -- sometimes a lot. And patients will frequently have to see multiple doctors, not to annoy them as Dr. Haig implies, but rather because the doctors don’t have the time, skills, knowledge or patience to provide proper evaluation, diagnosis and treatment. Some of us have to kiss a lot of frogs, Dr. Haig, before we find a prince.
Health care is complicated enough. I hope that patients reading Dr. Haig’s article are not further discouraged from becoming educated, speaking up, asking questions, and advocating for themselves.
Sincerely,
Mary J. Shomon
Comments
Dear Mary, Your the best!!
Love & respect
Anna in Sweden
I want to thank you for taking a stand for thyroid patients and patients in general. I have been through this with doctors and can tell you that you have to fight for the right to be informed about your health care. I’ve been told that alternatives to typical thyroid treatments are “voodoo”, among others, so keep up the good work and eventually we make get the help and understanding that we need.
Thank you
Mary, your letter to the editor is amazing! I am in awe of how you are able to clearly state the case of frustrated patients and intolerant doctors without sounding strident or angry. While many of us have a right to be angry & sound shrill and strident, there is an art to not sounding that way. Bravo!
Thanks for your response to the TIME magazine article. If I hadn’t been well informed about my possible hypothyroid condition, I would still be lying in the couch in misery. I would never have had the strength to continue the fight, in the face of the dismissive attitudes and ridicule I faced in trying to get treated. I can’t tell you how much I lost respect for the medical community as a whole, and, conversely, how much respect I gained for the doctor who was open-minded enough to listen.
Wow Mary!! What an awesome, well written letter! I am a googler when it comes to my health and the health of loved ones. You have to be informed! I was fortunate to find an amazing DR. who appreciated my well informed questions and said she actually learned something from me! It is unfortunate that we must Dr. shop but our health depends on it!!
Mary,
A huge thank you for being a voice to so many of us.
My health insurance strongly advises that I need to be informed to ask the right questions and get the needed information from my doctor. Perhaps they need an educational campaign with the doctors in their network about dealing with knowledgeable/”google” patients.
Wow! You hit the nail right on the head Mary!
Bravo to you Mary! I like to call myself a “researcher,” but I’ll take the term “Googler” too and be proud of it. I know this is not new for many patients, but I’ve had doctors ignore my questions and tell me info I got from reputable sources was just hype. I’ve also had doctors who have told me that I wasn’t really feeling the way I said I was feeling. It’s discouraging and downright disgraceful and doctors who treat their patients without respect should be ashamed of themselves. I’ve been diagnosed with hypothyroidism for nearly a decade and although I don’t feel 100 percent well all of the time, I do have a doctor who welcomes information I bring in with me and who is genuinely concerned for my wellbeing. Thank you to the docs out there who have their patients’ best interests at heart and thank you Mary for your hard work and insight.
Brilliant - you’ve captured our experience in a nutshell! We went to 22 doctors in 2 years to find out why my 9-year-old son was constantly nauseated and losing weight (culminating in a trip to the Mayo Clinic). I went from being a very compliant mother-of-the-patient to finding out what tests needed to be ordered on my own and demanding them. Some would say I was more of a “Munchausen Mom” instead of a petit papier because my son was dying right before my eyes and no one could figure it out!!! Our story has a happy ending - all thanks to the InterNet.
Mary….RIGHT ON!!! I’m PROUD to be a Googler, and SICK of docs who treat me as if I’m an idiot because I want to be informed. I find this is true with a lot of men, in general, who seem to think that informed women are a threat to them. Shame on Time Magazine for propagating this “disinformation campaign”. GOOGLE ON, everyone! Thanks, Mary…I dub you “The Googling Heroine” with much affection and respect. Power to the googling women!!
I hope everyone who has the misfortune to be treated by this doctor has the opportunity to read this article. What a charmer.
It’s a shame there are so many like him, and so many of us out there who have to do all the work ourselves. All that money spent on medical school, yet all they can do is push whatever the pharmaceutical company tells them to, and mock the very people who pay their bills.
Thank you Mary for your wonderful letter to the editor of Time. I am one of the “Googlers” and “brainsuckers” type of patients Dr Haig dislikes. I will not stop trying to understand my health problems and researching new studies and technology for my health and life. Luckily, I have found good doctors that tolerate my involvement and assertive participation in my treatments. Keep up the great work and information you provide to all of us, Mary. You are very much appreciated!
Great letter! The sad fact is there are doctors and other professionals, such as judges, like in this article! I had to help my Dad in small claims court and hired a consulting arborist to write a study regarding his tree and roots and whether they were damaging the neighbor’s wall. The judge flipped through that $300 report and said “someone has been on the internet”. He didn’t even look at it, that is how close minded he was. My Dad lost and the judge’s reasoning, “Big tree, must have big roots” end of story and Dad must pay $1,200 for damage to neighbor’s wall. The judge didn’t even care about a professional’s opinion on paper in a custom study (arborist said there were no roots damaging the wall). We couldn’t appeal as Dad had to have surgery in a week and we wanted the whole thing over.
Even the tree lost as we figured the neighbor would try to sue again in a year feeling so confident from that outcome–we hired someone to cut it down (not a valuable tree, but grew like a weed).
Bottom line and lesson learned: Do your research for the doctor, court, whatever, but don’t come in the office with a huge pile of papers. Try to memorize your questions, or have just one little paper with your key issues. Yes, one should do research and be empowered, but a lot of these people think you are just printing everything you see on the internet and dumping it on them. I do my research and ask my questions. I’ve found some great doctors this way and I’ve “fired” quite a lot along the way.
Mary, thank you for all your hard work and advocacy! What on earth would we do without you? I am most definitely a “Googler” to my most profound fortune!
I was being treated for two years for hypothyroidism by a local doctor and getting worse and worse, to the point my husband and I thought I was doing to die soon.(That turned out to be true; but for other metabolic reasons). The local doctor became infuriated when I found a good doctor* on your website and began to improve in health, to the point that he became verbally abusive. I reported him to our insurance company who apparently did nothing. That doctor is still practicing.*The doctor I found on your website saved my life and I continue as his patient. We both talk about my problems and my needs and he listens and acts accordingly. I pray for every thyroid patient, whether hypo, hyper, and/or autoimmune, as good a doctor. Keep up your good work, Mary, and God bless you!
Well said, Mary
I am a dentist and was almost a doctor prior to that, and yet I can’t find one to help me. I am taking Synthroid / Levothyroxin for the last 17 years (after the birth of my daughter), and all this time I go from doctor to doctor, unable to find one who will be knowledgeable, patient, and welcoming questions. Unfortunately, integrative medicine is not a specialty, and so there is no information available to me how to find one. I tried everything, I even contacted Kate Lemmerman, but she doesn’t know one in Canada. If anybody can help with this, I shall really appreciate it.
Thank you kindly
Galina
Toronto, Canada
RIGHT ON MARY!!!
Thanks for speaking up for all of us!
Keep up the Great work that you do!
Donna
Straight to the point . .. right on the money. Bravo Mary
Excellent! I have multiple conditions: severe Hashimoto’s, advanced DDD, three ruptured cervical disc fusion surgery and am an advanced stage cervical cancer survivor. All of these conditions have occurred within a 4 year period and began at age 36. I HAVE to prepare so that I can make the most of each appt. But, I get the “sigh” when the list of questions appears and am cut short because of their 10-15 minute appt “window”. It is impossible to try and find a Dr. whose ego will allow to look at the entire me and how each condition affects the other…the stress for example seems to always keep the Hashimoto’s on attack mode. Each Dr. just wants to discuss their specialty own portion not the interaction. So I do it for myself and am viewed as a “high maintenance” patient. Pass her along, refer, appt time is up, see another specialist and so on.
So BRAVO Mary! You are the best! Keep up the outstanding job!!
Thank you so much-
Marilyn
Thank-you Mary!
Succinct, to the point and professional, as always! Thanks so much for all your help!
Melissa
Sound as though the so-called medical professional who wrote that article is of the same ilk as those fifty or so that my petit papier friend Cheri saw over the course increasing debilitating illness before she found one who took her seriously enough to actually look at her x-rays. That blessed man discovered that all her problems arose from the troubling fact that ten years earlier the quack who removed her appendix had left over a hundred metal staples lying in her stomach cavity! Thank goodness Cheri was angry, snotty and stubborn enough to keep on insisting until someone paid attention-she’d be dead by now if she hadn’t.
I have been blessed w/medical professionals who take the time to LISTEN to me and ANSWER my concerns.
In addition, I print out my articles, making sure the sources are universities, well-known hospitals (i.e. Johns Hopkins), and medical journals.
DON’T use resources that are brought up on top of your search (paid advertisers).
Google usually has a space between those and non-advertising Web sites.
Leslie
Hmm. Who’s more arrogant when viewing female patients — Dr. Haig or the boys at Time magazine? Thanks for calling them on this, Mary. You’re the best!
As a Medical Transcriptionist, I have first hand knowledge that doctors, on a daily and routine basis, mispronounce medications, diagnosis, and most commonly prescription dosages. The latter makes a HUGE difference when discussing Synthroid medication. Any physician worth his weight in salt knows that Synthroid is dosed in micrograms; however, every physician save for 2, systematically dictate the dosage in milligrams. Of course, I am not allowed to correct it, I can only type what I hear and it is so aggravating. They mispronounce names, get birthdates wrong, etc. So, noone is perfect, not even the almighty physician. Mr. Haig needs to go back to Bedside Manners 101 and take refresher course. Or, perhaps, a personality class would best suit him.
Wonderful response!
I’ve added it to my “Trashed!!” collection of physician responses.
Thank goodness they’re not all like this!
To Sheila H. It is now mandatory in most hospitals that synthroid (or any other medicine) be noted in milligrams and not micrograms. So 150 mcg is 0.15 mg. The doctors may be simply following now standard measures.
I hope an actual patient gives this doctor the comeuppance he so richly deserves, in addition to your well-written letter. After moving to a state in a whole new region of the country, I chose a doctor based upon someone’s recommendation. When I discussed serotonin levels with this man and asked if there was a test one could take, he told me there wasn’t, and I could tell he thought I was an idiot. Well, even though this was 1997, I did my internet research and discovered there was indeed a lab test for serotonin levels. This man out and out lied to me, and I won’t tolerate that. I marched over to his office and asked for copies of my medical records (didn’t take long…I’d only been seeing him about a month), as well as the previous medical records I had given him. Oh, yeah, they wanted to charge me to make copies of records I had given him! Oh, no, that wasn’t going to happen. I let it be known that I was changing doctors…very loudly, I might add, so all in the waiting room could hear…because he lied to me. I also said I had more respect for a doctor who would tell me he didn’t know the answer, but would find out for me. The doctor is supposed to be your partner, not your father, or your God. It’s about time doctors realize you don’t have to go to medical school to know something about the subject. And, one more thing, no doctor knows my body better than I do!
I hope all of Dr. Haig’s patients read that article and realize what he thinks of them…idiots who provide him with his chosen lifestyle. Who’s the real idiot here?
Why does Haig believe it is pertinent that “Susan” was “in good shape” and “attractive”?
Thank you for informing your grateful readers of this Time magazine article, and for your delightfully written response. I would like to give kudos to Time magazine as well, for no matter what their intention, they have shone a bright light on the arrogance of at least one so-called professional. When reading through these posts and contemplating the availability of knowledge we all enjoy… I realize that for the most arrogant among us, they are experiencing a level of fear never know in that group before… the education and enlightenment of the masses. We no longer have the great wall dividing us and them. Not so long ago, information and education kept them elevated above us all, and they felt superior in that position. No more… we are becoming equals on so many levels… and the arrogant among them are afraid of us.
Answer for Galina in Toronto, try Dr. Pettle
at (416) 633-4101 he will prescribe natural
thyroid hormone. I just started it and will let
you know how I am feeling in the weeks to come.
Mary, your letter to the editor was clear, smart
and I think it will be a real eye opener to all
of the medical ‘professionals’ who have been
treating their patients poorly when they see that
they are trying to be well informed. In my work
I am happy if my clients come to me with informed
questions and I am not afraid to be questioned. All
the best doctors I have ever seen never seem to mind the questions. It has often been the doctors
who I know are not ‘top in their field’ that have seemed defensive when answering my questions. I too have ‘fired’ doctors if they have not been willing
to consider my questions and research. Thank God
for Google and Mary Shoman!
My doctor failed to notice I was extremely hyperthyroid — despite having had blood work showing this TWO YEARS before I hit rock bottom, possibly having, and surviving, a thyroid storm.
A nurse saw my bulging eyes, looked over my records and got me the help I needed. … After that, I became aq googler, and found the best doctor in the area. I feel great.
Thank you for such a great letter!
I had to become a “Googler” to recommend to my “keeper of knowledge” that I probably needed to be referred to an endocrinologist for thyroid tests. After 3-4 years of suffering - I finally found out that I have Hashimoto’s but my doc got the $185 for the visit!!
I overheard a Dr refer to me as a “member of the scare-of-the-month club”. This was pre-internet so this attitude has been around for a long time. Docs with this attitude toward patients need to do everyone a favor and retire!
Well said, Mary! Thank you for standing up for us Thyroid patients =)
Dr. Scott Haig really needs to get into modern times and out of the stone age.
If it wasn’t for me Googling and doing research, I’d be still suffering from my thyroid condition if not in a worst, dangerous, health condition(s). It was just horrid what I went through before finally being put on a medication for it.
I am glad I am a Googler - LOL - it saved my life =) Googling my symptoms has sure panned out for the best in a couple of situations, besides Thyroid, I went through. My Doctor. actually likes it when I research, and works side-by-side with me … never protesting. He’s even told me at times he is learning from me when I do my research. He has admitted that family Doctors do not get enough training in various areas, Thyroid being one of those areas =)
As my Doctor says, “You live in your body, therefore are the one that really does know it best!”
*Hats off to those Doctors that really do work side-by-side with their patients and listen to them!*
*Hats off to those that don’t do the blind-faith in Doctors anymore like the old days. We have a right to research and make sure we are getting the best quality in health care!*
You do the man an injustice. He punted the patient because he knew she’d not be able to ‘go the distance’ with him. He stated that clearly.
I’d like you to picture how much patience you would have with some self absorbed person sitting in your space ignoring her child while he destroyed your property.
Further, there is a big difference between a well-informed, logical patient (the engineer was his example,) and the lunatic narcissist who feeds his/her personality disorder by visiting healthcare professionals. Because of the nature of healthcare, focused on the patient, this is Disneyland for the narcissist.
I would like to thank you for speaking out for the patients on this very sensative topic. It is very difficult to get a thyroid disease diagnosis, especially after finding out that you are pregnant and also if you have been completely healthy all of your life. This was the case with me, and along with all of the other hormones at a time like this in a woman’s life, having a doctor that thinks so little of his (for only a man would think like Dr. Haig) patient it really a shame and a disgrace for the health care industry as a whole!!! I am just saddened to the extreme by Dr. Haig’s article and offended. Thank you for being the voice of thyroid patients, and I suggest you contact the CBS Early Show and get the word out, Dr. Emily Senay, I am sure she would be happy to do a segment on the subject. Thank you again!!! -Chris (Graves Disease-2005)
Thank you, Mary!
Your letter to Time is excellent! I have become a medical “Googler” over the past few years, starting with an oral cancer scare my brother had (before he had a computer or internet). After that, I honed my research skills for my own multi-level spinal fusion, eventually visiting 6 surgeons (who gave me 6 different surgical plans!), before choosing one. I based my choice on bedside manner, information from very reliable online sources such as Cleveland Clinic and Spineuniverse.com. I rejected one surgeon who wanted to use outdated, old-fashioned methods, and another arrogant egotist who is actually an editor at Spineuniverse who ridiculed my well-researched questions during a visit. I also went through the agony of red tape getting onto Medicaid for my surgery because I am one of the millions of mid to low-income Americans who don’t have health insurance. And then Social Security Disability…more obtuse red tape and rules…Then came the Thyroid condition, and now I have had a burst colon and a temporary colostomy. Without the internet I would either be in constant pain or dead. Keep fighting for all patients, Mary!!!
I love/hate the internet. There is some good information. I don’t like paying monthly fees to have thousands of pages of junk invading my space eating my time every day. The internet and computers are just another institution like the mafia and insurance companies. They create a disturbance so they can steal money from you. Seems pretty silly to me that you would pay money to see the doctor with years of experience and knowledge, to try and impress him with your self found internet information. The information on the internet compels people to act like drama queens, all about emotional stuff. Perhaps you should check your attitude. If we continue to be gulliable, then we won’t have anything to worry about, because our world will be taken over by idiots and terrorists.
You go Girl! I am fortunate that the doctors I have really appreciate the well-informed questions. And further, they answer the questions and work with me to find what is right for ME in my health care decisions. Isn’t that what it’s about - doing what’s best for the patient? My doctors have made me feel that its ok to say no, that I would like to discuss other treatment options/medications. I have had doctors in the past with the attitude that they know it all and wouldn’t answer questions or explain things in layman terminology when asked. Suffice it to say, I won’t go to that kind of doctor. But from the sounds of the article, that is what those kinds of doctors prefer anyway.
How many of you respondents have actually READ the article by Dr Haig? I believe Mary missed the point of Haig’s missive and am amazed at the bitter vitriol she has brought forth. Read it first, then comment. He in no way recommended patients stay uninformed…just asked that they acknowledge some googled information does not an MD make.
Thank you Mary for speaking up. There are a few like Dr Haig, that is why I go to a women doctor. christine
Thank you so much Mary for not only having the courage to go to “bat” for us, but to also have the ability to make it public. I think your letter was great and anyone who doesn’t agree is either a relative of that Dr. or a relative/friend of a Dr. just like him. I have a couple of friends who had Dr’s like that and it’s really a miserable thing. You suffer for nothing because you have such a closed mind professional that really isn’t there to help you in the end. Keep up the great work Mary and GOD BLESS!!!!
All I can say is Amen! I relocated from the NW to the SE 3-1/2 years ago and suffered through a series of 3 well-respected, arrogant, uncaring, insecure doctors until July this year. They caused much needless stress and suffering, and furthermore, they were just plain wrong! Now I am blessed with a brilliant and likeable doctor who listens to me. I was so close to abandoning traditional medicine - but why should I feel bad, for it had already abandoned me?
1) I trained with Dr Haig. Though we don’t share the same opinions about everything by any means, I can say and he is a smart, caring , compassionate doctor and his patients adore him esp because he is HUMAN and has a SENSE OF HUMOR and is HONEST. And sometimes honesty is exactly what people/patients need the most— like most people, what Dr. Haig writes is not what he says to patients- he’s a bit more nuanced.
If you don’t like his attitude, I dare say you that if you dig into anybody’s mind, you will find opinions and attitudes that are objectionable eg political affiliation. In fact, you might as well judge your doctor according to their political affiliation since of course we know that one party is more ‘compassionate’ than the other.
If you choose a doctor because they will tell you what you want to hear (vs. the truth) …
2) Why are people so uncaring towards doctors— You don’t know what dedication and compassion is unless you’ve spent a few years on call without sleep, dealing with the stress of surgery, death, disraught family members, threat of malpractice suits, insurance denials etc. I dare say there are few to no other professions where the demands AND expectations are so unrealistic (eg washing your hands with Purell literally 124 times a day- I’m sure somebody reading this will think that is reasonable).
3) Do you take reams of so-called internet “research” to your kids teachers, the auto mechanic, the grocery store, your real estate agent, your nurse, personal trainer, Starbucks, DMV, judges, lawyers, banker, your boss. Why is it always doctors (and why do people complain about waiting in doctors offices when you yourself have 20 pages of documents you want her/him to look over and discuss?)
I have been suffering with depression for at least 15 years, on antidepressants etc. At the advice of a naturopath I came off my Eltroxin (synthetic thyroid hormone)I could not believe how wonderful I felt!!! I’m now…after all these years, off the anti-depressants. If you tell doctors you are depressed because of Eltroxin…they treat you as a neurotic! It is time we all became ‘googlers’ and started educating our doctors….who don’t have the time or interest to get better informed themselves.
Good for you, Mary Shomon! I fear that many in the medical profession are intimidated by someone who might actually catch them in an uninformed moment, rather than listening in awe of their doctor’s brilliance. Doctors need to remember that they, too, are human and make errors. Perhaps we should all be playing on the same team instead of opposing sides.
Mary,
Your letter is fantastic. I just happened on this thread and find it disconcerting to see how out of date this doctor truly is.
A large study several years ago from Harvard showed that good doctors welcome their patients input (and look at this as an opportunity to learn new information), whereas doctors with little confidence feel intimidated and challenged by patients who ask questions.
As always, you’re doing a great service to patients everywhere when you step in.
Keep up the great work Elaine
Hi Mary,
I do not dis agree with you on the comment about Dr. Hiegl because I didn’t see or read the articles he wrote about patient. I understand that you have thyroid problem, and I have two friend that have a thyroid cancer.
When it come to a cancer or any cancer I feel bad because I have a two friend, actually we have friend that die last year already. For me to comment about that Dr. Hiegl. I think that Dr. doesn’t understand the patient problem, how vialable the patient life. I just can’t understand why he became a Dr. without patience to his client. Another thing, I just wonder if he is a real Dr. Maybe some body just made it up the story to roined Dr. reputation. If he is a real Dr. and do not have a patience then he should get out as a Dr. He should find another job or profession that suit him, rather waisting time.