Some Doctors Wouldn’t Take Own Advice

Doctors may not always recommend the same treatments they would pick for themselves, a study suggests. Researchers asked primary care doctors about two fictional situations. Each one called for a treatment decision. One involved cancer, the other a severe case of flu. In both cases, one option presented a higher risk of death. The other had a lower risk of death but a higher risk of serious side effects or disability. Doctors were asked what they would do themselves or what they would recommend to a patient. In both cases, they were more likely to choose the treatment with the higher death risk for themselves than to recommend it to patients. In the cancer scenario, about 38% would accept the deadlier treatment for themselves. Only 25% would recommend it to patients. In the flu scenario, 63% of doctors said they would choose no treatment.