Bill Moore of Pacific Grove was barely in his 20s when he found out he had cholesterol trouble.
This was bad news for Moore because his father had died of a heart attack at 45 and because, as he told his doctor, Moore was eating all the right stuff.
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Body of lies: Patients aren't 100% honest with doctors
When patients aren't truthful, misled doctors may give a wrong diagnosis or treatment.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, June 13, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 49 words Type of Material: Correction
Patient disclosures: A Health section article on Monday about how patients lie to their doctors and what can result said that Jerry Flanagan was an advocate with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. The organization was formerly known by that name, but it is now called Consumer Watchdog.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday, June 15, 2009 Home Edition Health Part E Page 4 Features Desk 1 inches; 48 words Type of Material: Correction
Lying: A June 8 Health article about how patients lie to doctors and what can result said Jerry Flanagan, quoted in the article, is an advocate with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. The organization had been known by that name, but is now called Consumer Watchdog.
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The doctor prescribed cholesterol-lowering medication, and a subsequent test showed the drug was working very well. Too well.
His doctor was very surprised, Moore says. "I told him I must be unique. I must have a unique body composition." But the truth was Moore had fed his doctor a false written record of his eating habits before beginning the drug -- reporting vegetables and salads that had never been on his menu, and not reporting all the hamburgers and pizzas that had.
Only when he started on the cholesterol drug did he finally begin eating the way he'd been claiming to eat all along. It was that change combined with the drug that made his cholesterol levels plunge.
Inaccurate information can do more than confuse a doctor. It can lead to misinterpreted symptoms, overlooked warning signs, flawed diagnoses and treatments -- potentially endangering a patient's health, even life.
Still, doctors know that at least some of the time, at least some of their patients overstate, understate, embellish, omit, or otherwise stray from a straight and thorough reporting.
"Everybody lies at some point," says Dr. Sharon Parish, a professor of clinical medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City who practices at Montefiore Medical Center. They do it out of embarrassment, to please the doctor, to avoid a lecture.
But doctors and patient advocates agree that in most cases, when patients lie, they're pretty much asking for trouble. Even when telling the truth is unappealing, "getting into a lying relationship with your physician is really far more perilous," says Peter Clarke, director of the Center for Health and Medical Communication at USC and co-author of the 1998 book "Surviving Modern Medicine."
An early lesson
That patients lie is one of the basics doctors learn in medical school. Of 1,500 responders to a 2004 online survey by WebMD, 45% admitted they hadn't always told it exactly like it was -- with 13% saying they had "lied," and 32% saying they had "stretched the truth."
