BMJ 1996;313:1210 (9 November)

Letters

What is said may not convey what is intended

EDITOR,--Ray Fitzpatrick's editorial on reassuring patients1 and I G McDonald and colleagues' paper2 remind me of an entertaining lecture given some 50 years ago by the very practical cardiologist Willie Evans. It was entitled "False reassurance" and stood me in good stead for the rest of my professional career.

Many of the points in the editorial and paper were made in that lecture, but the most impressive feature was an exhibition of extracts from consultants' letters to patients, such as "You are very well for your age"; "Your son's heart murmur is completely innocent and he can play football, but if he has any dental extractions he should be given penicillin"; and "I can find nothing wrong, but come and see me again in a year's time." The second half of each of these statements destroyed the intended effect unless it was fully explained at the patient's intellectual level.

In . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Telling patients there is nothing wrong
Ray Fitzpatrick
BMJ 1996 313: 311-312. [Extract] [Full Text]

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