An examination of some of the factors that can weaken the therapeutic nature of the patient-physician relationship and how a physician can resolve them in the patient's best interest.
When patients request drugs for nonmedical reasons, the most effective intervention may be to explore with the patient his or her reasons for using drugs to make lifestyle changes.
A hypothetical clinical case discusses patient demand for advanced diagnostics such as MRIs when physicians do not recommend such tests. Better patient education is the suggested approach.
A physicians urges practitioners to use cost-effective alternatives to dispensing samples to patients who cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions.
Physicians should be aware when developing a treatment plan that patients' lack of trust in the medical profession can affect their willingness to seek medical treatment and comply with the treatment.
A case that illustrates how Western medicine's body or mind approach to diagnosis and treatment can differ from that of many patients from non-Western cultures.
An ethical case describes the use of a pharmacy's database to market directly to their patients without either patient consent or disclosure of the marketing intent of the materials they received.