This post is about some half-baked ideas that result from inferences I have made after noticing some patterns in my dealings with patients, inspired by one such interaction today.
Every now and again I have noted that some patients seem pleased by something I say, some perspective I present, and their pleasure I infer from their asking for my name and contact information so that they may pass it on to their other treating physicians. This is somewhat unusual since I make clear that I am a dedicated inpatient doctor who only briefly contributes to their care in the most acute of settings. And I have noticed that it is most likely to happen when I offer to them a perspective that gives permission, as it were, to pursue a less aggressive course of care even in patients who are not really at the very end of their lives.
Today, as is often the case, I suggested that a patient may wish to simplify his medication regimen, eliminating medications that, while constituents of an "optimal" regimen, are adding very marginally to his longevity while posing some very real burdens. This patient has some longstanding chronic conditions but his medical regimen increased dramatically in complexity after a recent cardiac illness, such that he now takes two antiplatelet agents, an anticoagulant, and several medications for blood pressure and heart failure in addition to several medications he has been taking for years. Since his most recent hospitalization six weeks ago, he has felt terrible. This is either related to the setback he had with his recent cardiac event, or from the post-hospitalization syndrome detailed in the post about Death by 1000 Needlesticks, or, and this is not to be taken lightly, the cumulative side effects of his now complex medication regimen. Indeed, the current hospitalization has occurred as a result of bleeding complications triggered by medications from his last hospitalization.
Every now and again I have noted that some patients seem pleased by something I say, some perspective I present, and their pleasure I infer from their asking for my name and contact information so that they may pass it on to their other treating physicians. This is somewhat unusual since I make clear that I am a dedicated inpatient doctor who only briefly contributes to their care in the most acute of settings. And I have noticed that it is most likely to happen when I offer to them a perspective that gives permission, as it were, to pursue a less aggressive course of care even in patients who are not really at the very end of their lives.
Today, as is often the case, I suggested that a patient may wish to simplify his medication regimen, eliminating medications that, while constituents of an "optimal" regimen, are adding very marginally to his longevity while posing some very real burdens. This patient has some longstanding chronic conditions but his medical regimen increased dramatically in complexity after a recent cardiac illness, such that he now takes two antiplatelet agents, an anticoagulant, and several medications for blood pressure and heart failure in addition to several medications he has been taking for years. Since his most recent hospitalization six weeks ago, he has felt terrible. This is either related to the setback he had with his recent cardiac event, or from the post-hospitalization syndrome detailed in the post about Death by 1000 Needlesticks, or, and this is not to be taken lightly, the cumulative side effects of his now complex medication regimen. Indeed, the current hospitalization has occurred as a result of bleeding complications triggered by medications from his last hospitalization.