Monday 22 June 2015

Google search vs doctor diagnosis – always an imperfect balance

Google search vs doctor diagnosis – always an imperfect balance


Bronte Doyne’s death from cancer after she was told to stop googling her symptoms raises questions about the doctor-patient relationship

The death of teenager Bronte Doyne from cancer after she was told to stop googling her symptoms exposes how many professionals want to ignore the advances of the information age and cling to the old power relationship between doctors and patients.

Bronte begged doctors to listen to her after online research on an authoritative US website convinced her that her rare liver cancer had returned. She died 16 months after being told she would survive. Just days before her death she wrote: “Can’t begin to tell you how it feels to have to tell an oncologist they are wrong. I had to, I’m fed up of trusting them.” Her mother described doctors at Nottingham University hospitals NHS trust as aloof and evasive. Guardian

Related: Humanity lies at the heart of an NHS worth keeping

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