In a message dated 19/04/98 20:30:47, you write:
<< This appeared in my emailbox.
Very strange, I'm actually a doctor, not a Mr.
I can't imagine that this is some reporter doing some research and
making such an elementary mistake.
So how would you respond? Politely, rudely, not all??
>>
To Mr. Plews,
>
> Dear Sir,
> My husband has been told he has to have a new knee as soon as possible.
> He is nervous of the operation. I would like to know how I find out
> who has done the most operations to the knee. While he would rather
> have it done in England; maybe Northern Ireland has more experience in
> that area!
>
> My husband is 70; very young for his age and I desperately want him to
> have the very best treatment available. He had a "scraping" done by
> Paul Aitchroth about 4 years ago. Unfortunately, Aitchroth did not
> tell my husband it was the only thing he could have done at the time and
> that he really needed a new knee then. Had he said that, my husband
> would not have had such high expecations and be sadly disappointed.
> (maybe my husband was told, but chose only to believe what he wanted to
> believe)
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> Elizabeth Azis
I must say that this sounds genuine enough and deserves a polite reply, but
I'm not sure of the ethics of advising an unknown patient on specifics eg any
given consultant's skills in a particular field. BTW, Paul Aichroth is a very
good orthopod and my patients have been very impressed with him.
Emile de Sousa
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|