Why blame the doctors?

Md. Hossain Rahman, MBBS (5th year), Chittagong Medical College
Case 1: A 50-year old man suffering from pain in the middle of the chest every night just before going to bed, which resolves after some time. He doesn't feel any kind of pain during daytime. He is moderately hypertensive and suffering from no other diseases. After consulting with his doctor the doctor prescribed him glycerol trinitrate to use when the pain starts. Then the doctor gave him some laboratory investigation. After investigating the doctor prescribed him to continue the same drug life long for that pain. But, the patient again consulted some doctors and they also prescribed him the same medicine. Although he is OK with this drug , he is still blaming the doctors, “The doctor told me to take this life long but why can't they cure it?” Case 2: A 43-year old man was suffering from painful sore in his oral cavity for 5 days. After visiting a doctor, the doctor prescribed him riboflavin. After going to dispensary he exclaimed and said, “The doctor took Tk 300 from me while the cost of this medicine is only Tk 2!” The man went to another doctor and got the same prescription. After taking the drugs he was fully cured. Case 3: A 20-year old married woman was getting slight pain at the middle of the chest for 1 month. She also complained that the pain got worse at night. Then she visited a doctor. After performing a simple ECG the doctor prescribed him a drug. After taking the drug she was completely cured. But, some days later someone told her that the drug was a multivitamin drug. She told, “ What a ….. doctor!” Case 4: A 20-year old male got admitted into Chittagong Medical College Hospital after a road accident. He had a severe head injury. After CT scan the doctor said that there was no severe bleeding or other manifestation on the scan. Then the patient's guardian wanted to take him to Dhaka for treatment. But the doctor told them not to take him because before 24 hours nothing may be manifested in case of a head injury patient. So, the doctor told him to wait. But, they refused and took him without the discharge report. And later the patient ultimately faced some manifestation as a result of injury to the base of the skull. There are a lot of examples of these types and can you say what a doctor can do in these cases? We know the doctors are blamed when they fail to do something and the patient is often responsible for that. But they always blame the doctors. And I know very few people who praise the doctors even when they get good treatment.