Different Takes: Delving Into Causes Of Medical Distrust; Breaking Down Addiction Discrimination
Editorial writers tackle medical distrust and addiction stigma.
CNN:
What A Cancer Misdiagnosis Taught Me About Coping With Medical Distrust
Fourteen years ago, I sat face-to-face with my doctor, weighing my odds of survival. Was it a flip of a coin? I had breast cancer that had traveled to my lymph nodes, and on a bone scan it appeared to have spread to my skull. For two weeks, I had been reading the dismal, nauseating survival statistics for younger women with metastatic breast cancer. "If I were in Vegas, I'd put money on you being alive in five years," my doctor said. (Susannah Hills, 10/26)
Stat:
A New Index Identifies The Extent And Depth Of Addiction Stigma
“I finally build up the courage to tell the doctor I need help. Staring at the floor, I tell him the truth about how much I am drinking and how many pills I am taking. As I look up, our eyes meet. His face is aghast. He quickly looks away. With his back turned to me, he mumbles something to the effect, ‘We don’t treat those issues here.' ”That is a story from Chad Fahlberg — a person in long-term recovery recounting his experience facing stigma due to his substance use disorder. (Matthew Stefanko, Brea Perry and Anne Krendl, 10/27)
