Here's the dilemma: Your loved one wants to drive, saying, "I feel fine." Your loved one's doctor said (s)he cannot drive until cleared at the follow-up visit that is still 2 weeks away. What do you do?
One person's response was to go online and see what's recommended by a reputable website, a response that startled and upset me on multiple levels.
For one thing, driving against medical advice is unwise. If the patient does nothing wrong and gets in an accident that is 100% the other driver's fault, the patient still risks liability since (s)he was driving against medical advice.
Legal issues aside, look at what this says about the doctor-patient relationship. If the website condones driving, does that make it okay? No!
Online recommendations, by definition, are generalizations. The experts posting that advice have no knowledge of your loved one. Maybe your loved one's physician had specific reasons for imposing the no-driving rule.
What does it say about trust in the doctor if a patient knowingly goes against specific medical advice? The patient doesn't trust her/his doctor? The patient believes the doctor doesn't know her/his capabilities? If so, why is (s)he still going to that doctor?
How can the doctor trust the patient, if the patient follows online advice that is contrary to what was prescribed?
Next: What this scenario says about modern doctor-patient relationships.
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