Anonymous Doctor

"We're going to start you on Carvedilol for the blood pressure."

"None of my friends take that drug."

"Okay..."

"I mean, is that a good drug? Why don't any of my friends take it if it's a good drug?"

"Your friends may have different medical issues, there are different interactions between drugs, every patient's situation is different."

"I have a lot of friends."

"This is the drug we think will be most effective for you. I obviously have no idea what your friends should or shouldn't be taking for whatever medical conditions they may have."

"My friends go to doctors everyone says are very good."

"I'm not saying anything about the doctors your friends use. They are probably excellent, and I'm not judging their decisions at all. We're just talking about you, and the best medication to balance all of your symptoms and help keep you healthy."

"So should I tell my friends to take this drug?"

"No, I didn't say that. What your friends need to take is entirely dependent on their medical conditions and the judgment of their doctors."

"But if this was a good drug, wouldn't some of my friends be taking it?"

"No necessarily. Like I said, there are different drugs for different combinations of medical issues, and without knowing the details of your friends' medical concerns, to the degree that their own doctors do, it would be impossible to even speculate about which medications they should be taking."

"So they should ask their doctors about it."

"They should feel free to ask their doctors any questions they might have about their medications. I have no reason to believe this medication makes any more or less sense for anything they are or are not dealing with."

"If you have no reason to believe this medication makes sense, why are you telling me to take it?"

"It makes sense for you. I'm saying I don't know anything about whether it makes sense for them."

"I just want the best medication."

"And I'm trying to give you the best medication for you."

"No, not the best medication for me. The best medication. Whatever it is, I want the best one there is."

"It's all dependent on your own constellation of symptoms and issues."

"I don't think I want this medication."

"Okay, let's start this conversation from the beginning again..."