You show up, get told what is wrong and what needs to be fixed and don't ask many questions because, after all, the mechanic is the expert. Managed care has squeezed appointment times to fly-by pokes and prods. Insurance companies obsessed with the bottom line second-guess doctors and patients alike. A flurry of medical breakthroughs and growing treatment options make medical decisions ever more complex. Through it all, the intensely personal experience of getting sick is changing.
Patients are confused and angry.
So the boldest among them are taking matters into their own hands. In the past few years, the volume of health information has exploded. Daily newspapers and local television news programs devote more space and time to health news than ever before. At local bookstores, shelves sag under the weight of health-oriented books. Health fairs, where lay people can shop for vitamins and learn about pacemakers in the comfort of fancy hotels, thrive all over the country.