Dr. Nicole Rochester, a pediatrician, says some relatives no longer seek her medical advice. Her adult daughters often turn to TikTok and Google to research conditions.

It’s disconcerting, she says, but not necessarily surprising. People are increasingly wary of a healthcare system that is supposed to make them feel better but instead leaves them stressed and frustrated. And while much ire is directed at insurance and pharmaceutical companies, doctors are the front face of the system and are losing the public’s confidence, as well.

“There are a lot of external factors that have really led to this dismantling of trust,” says Rochester.

Doctors retain a high ranking in terms of honesty and ethical standards among Americans, but trust levels have fallen markedly since 2021, according to Gallup’s annual professions ratings. About 53% of those polled in 2024 gave a high or very high rating to medical doctors, down from 67% in 2021. It’s the biggest drop among 23 professions ranked by Gallup in that period.

That’s notable. We’ve long relied on doctors to remedy our pains, make lifesaving decisions and have our best interest in mind. Now people feel less confident. They see a series of time-pressed physicians who keep visits short and struggle to build rapport with patients. That often makes it seem as if they are dismissing concerns or letting biases creep into care.

There are real costs to this. People look online for information on health conditions, often diagnosing themselves. The information is easily accessible, but may not be well researched and could be dangerous. They may skip checkups. One study found only 14% of people with low levels of trust take their medication.

Some people are so overwhelmed by dealing with doctors that they pay professional advocates to coordinate care. While beneficial for some, this threatens to widen gaps in healthcare outcomes for those of different income levels.

Trust in doctors is more important than ever given the aging U.S. population. If patients feel disregarded or confused by their doctors, they could ignore or miss crucial advice. Needed care could fall through the cracks.

That is what concerns Terry Fulmer, a registered nurse and president of the John A. Hartford Foundation. The eldercare foundation recently partnered with AgeWave, a consulting firm specializing in aging-related issues, to conduct a survey of 5,000 adults, half of whom were 65 and older.

Older adults often have more chronic conditions and are sent to a series of specialists, each with treatment and prescription plans. The average older adult takes four daily medications; Fulmer knows of some older people taking 15.

Care feels disjointed. About 30% of people on Medicare see five or more physicians annually.

“Every time they see a new doctor, they have to retell their story which erodes trust because they don’t feel listened to or known,” says Fulmer.

Sylvia O’Brien, 74, felt unheard at times by doctors. She says primary-care doctors minimized early signs of her husband’s dementia, including short-term memory loss and angry outbursts, saying it was normal aging. It got worse and he grew more combative. She took him to other doctors before a neurologist diagnosed him with dementia seven years ago.

O’Brien was relieved to have an answer, but her trusted neurologist moved. Since then, she has had three primary-care doctors for her husband and had to describe and argue for medications that relieve his anxiety, but weren’t approved under his insurance. At one point, a doctor blamed her for misunderstanding what prescription was filled.

“While I understand the medical field is overburdened, I feel I am working equally as hard to stay on top of rotating doctors who often do not seem to understand and can be dismissive,” says O’Brien. Her current doctor is empathetic and will double appointment times. O’Brien now worries she will leave.

Those who are part of the healthcare system are likewise exasperated. Jeremy Gurewitz’s mom, a radiologist, died of pancreatic cancer in 2018. Even though she was a doctor and had generous health insurance, she often had to fight to get procedures and answers. Information wasn’t shared between doctors. The family was overwhelmed first with the diagnosis and then trying to coordinate care.

Based on that experience, Gurewitz co-founded Solace, a company that connects patients with healthcare advocates, who help make appointments, translate medical jargon and appeal insurance denials.

Kitty Peterson says doctors implied that her joint pain and fibromyalgia was “all in my mind.” She went online and found people with similar conditions and treatments that helped them.

“Social media saved my life when the medical system failed me,” says Peterson, who found relief through an acupuncturist and massage therapist.

She believes there’s room for both traditional and alternative medicine. Peterson keeps up with vaccinations and screenings. But she gets primary care at a naturopathic clinic, which practices holistic medicine.

Rochester, the pediatrician, knows doctors are frustrated by being measured and compensated by the number of patients seen, and spending time doing paperwork and arguing with insurance companies.

But she, too, has seen doctors, wittingly or unwittingly, undermine trust. She took her aging father, who had chronic conditions, to doctors’ appointments, listened as he asked questions and posed questions herself.

“I’m African-American and he is. I just witnessed a lot of dismissal of his concerns and my concerns,” say Rochester, adding that she was taken seriously only after medical staff found out she was a doctor.

Rochester has since left clinical practice to become a healthcare advocate and consultant. “We need to be aware of the mistrust and own it as our problem,” she says.

LINK: https://www.wsj.com/health/wel...-we-used-to-79784b56

This message has been edited. Last edited by: parabellum,

The "China Flu" did it for me as far as opening my eyes to the Medical community.
I must admit that my turn off started with Obama Care and the merging of all Medical professionals into large medical groups run by larger corporations and insurance companies, now add pharmaceutical companies and distributors.

I doubt the Genie will ever get put back into the bottle.
Its Buyer beware now, question everything, and anybody that even looks like a DEI hire, run.

I’d say it’s all the above.
ZSM’s article hits the wider picture but the whole Covid fiasco really laid bare the idea that you can believe nothing you hear and half of what you see.
When an entire profession goes along with or even worse, creates a false narrative, you have to doubt anything you hear until overwhelming evidence proves otherwise.

Basically...
Most Americans have abdicated their healthcare to the medical community especially for chronic conditions. Doctors have abdicated their practice of medicine to the pharmaceuticals industry. And a reminder, insurance is not Healthcare.

The medical community, pharma, the insurance companies and the media lied to us about Covid and suppressed information that would be vital.

For that reason I do not trust any of them.

Interacting with doctors is usually enough to lose trust in them.

It wasn’t the entire medical community.

quote:

Originally posted by bcereuss:
It wasn’t the entire medical community.

Yup, generalization is no bueno.

Of course there are exceptions but in general, the medical community has lost tremendous respect and credibility these recent years.

There are serious questions regarding competency, integrity, or both. This includes not just the doctors explicitly but their managing administration. Every doctor I saw pushed the shot, the distancing, the masking.

Financial professionals have a fiduciary duty to act in our, the customer's, benefit.

I know there is the Hippocratic oath but there should be something stronger, if there isn't already. For whatever the reason, for me, the medical community has lost a significant level of credibility.

Whereas before, I may have trusted but verified with a new doctor, now I distrust until verified any doctor.

I’m quite pleased with my GP and specialists at UC San Diego Healthcare.

It’s a good system with at least a dozen major facilities within walking distance of my home. Including three large hospitals.

Its no longer about your care, diagnosis or treatment. Its about money, lawyers and bureaucracy. Add in big pharma and government and you get our current "healthcare system".
How are you feeling?

Oh, I'm sorry.

The location that your GP sent you to get your testing done is out of your insurance network.

That will only be an extra $700...

More and more private practices are being bought by corporations that own hospitals. They're forcing hospital computer systems, metrics, etc. on small practices. The small practices are feeling more and more like they're run by corporate not the doctors. This has eroded my trust.

Protocol based care has eroded my trust even more than COVID. I've previously posted about the migraine prevention drug that caused a nasty side effect that doubled the number of migraines per month. Even worse, I had to take a medication to treat the nasty side effect and that drug tried to shutdown my liver and I ended up in the ER and was admitted to the hospital for 3 days. What I haven't elaborated on was the organizational set-up at the neurolologist office that specialized in migraines:

The practice had a protocol where I saw a PA every 8 weeks and the neurologist 1x per year.

The PA had a protocol they followed which was progressively trying off-label drugs (i.e. inexpensive prescriptions such as blood pressure medication, anti-seizure medication, and anti-depressant) to prevent migraines, increasing dosages, switching drugs, and eventually I was allowed to take more expensive drugs specifically designed to prevent migraines. I felt like a human chemistry experiment the whole time.

Not once in 2 years did their protocol have the doctor or PA order blood tests to check liver or kidney function.

Not once did the protocol try finding the migraine trigger by eliminating a drug, a food, etc. This is super important and more on it later. Prior to 2014, I had not had a migraine in 15 years. 2014 to 2016, I had about 20 migraines. 2016 to 2018, I had as many as 15 migraines per month.

Once hospitalized, my gastroenterologist whom I had only seen for colonoscopies and the hospitalist teamed up to flush my liver. The gastroenterologist took me off all prescriptions, all OTCs, and all supplements. About a week after getting out of the hospital I realized I had not had a migraine in a week which turned into a month, which turned into a quarter, which turned into a year, and now it's 6.5 years and counting. I've worked with the gastroenterologist and slowly added back in necessary prescriptions, some supplements (e.g. multivitamin), and OTCs (only as necessary). Ultimately, it was the cholesterol drug Rosuvastatin (brand name Crestor) that was the migraine trigger.

The gastroenterologist saved my life, solved my migraine problem, and enabled my career to get back on track (i.e. I was not a high performer the 2 years I was in the neurologist's protocol). Obviously, I fired the neurologist.

Now, once a year I see a hematologist and he runs an extensive panel of blood and urine tests. I've essentially hired him to police my PCP and the specialists (e.g cardiologist) who write prescriptions.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I personally know at least five neurologists. None of them like treating migraine headaches. There waa a Nurse Practictioner who treated ONLY migraines and she was excellent. She had several years of training abroad, and had a pleasant demeaner. Sadly she moved to Florida.

The wife and I like our new doctor. she's a woman in her mid fifties I would guess and my first appointment with her was smack dab in the middle of covid. I had to wear a mask in the waiting room and everyone there was wearing a mask, some people had two on. when she finally got into the exam room to see me she walked in, saw my mask, and told me didn't have to wear that stupid thing if I didn't want to. I liked her immediately.

In the medical field, the AMA is our biggest threat. They are still recommending that kids get a covid shot.

My experiences reflect tatortodd's and I deal exclusively with the VA.

From 2013-2024 at the same hospital, I had 44 visits to neurology for TBI with severe migraines and I ended up seeing 43 different doctors. Complete step 1 before moving on to step 2 kind of stuff, but you can never make it to step 2 because you're next appointment is with someone different altogether, so you just get to repeat step 1. Egos are huge in the medical community too. Doc's rarely accept what others have already concluded, so they do the same redundant tests/treatments and it gets exhausting. Groundhog Day loop that you can't get out of.


There isn't really any kind of critical thinking on their part anymore either. These "medical professionals" are plugging your symptoms into a system that spits out the highest probable cause. You can do the same on WebMD and not have a copay

Yep. China flu did it for me also. I’ve had to visit multiple doctors the last few years for my mother and they all were pushing the COVID vaccine. I’m talking neurosurgeons, cardiologists, you name it. Her cardiologist was especially pushy and he could tell he pissed me off when I finally told him forcefully she will never be getting the Covid vaccine under any circumstances.

I am hoping that a large portion of doctors, nurses, and other providers have been "red pilled" or whatever the equivalent is for medicine.

My FAA doc was very highly regarded for being knowledgeable and knowing all the best docs in the area for whatever issue you might have. But then she parroted The Narrative on the mRNA jabs. I believe she was reading all the official literature to be sure she was well informed.

But we all know she was being lied to.

I hope the medical providers en masse set their profession back on course.

I would agree that the big institutions of medicine, particularly public health, have lost the public trust because of their failure during the pandemic. It's going to be very hard to win that back.

I'm hoping that Trump putting COVID dissenters like Jay Bhattacharya and Marty Makary in charge of federal agencies (NIH and FDA) will help to restore trust.

Beyond that, organizations like the AMA and the Association of Medical Colleges have gone along with crazy DEI,"anti-racist" and trans hysteria policies, and probably brainwashed thousands of med students. There will be no restoration of trust without penitence, and I don't see that yet.

As for practicing physicians, I don't think there's such generalized loss of trust. I do know that physicians who had to practice during the COVID lockdowns look back on policies that were instituted and consider them to have been wrong.

Who pays the doctors? Start from there.