Name: What your doctor won’t disclose
Uploaded: 2014-11-13T16:05:49Z
Duration: 15 min 32 s
Description: Wouldn’t you want to know if your doctor was a paid spokesman for a drug company? Or held personal beliefs incompatible with the treatment you want? Right now, in the US at least, your doctor simply doesn’t have to tell you about that. And when physician Leana Wen asked her fellow doctors to open up, the reaction she got was … unsettling.

Wouldn’t you want to know if your doctor was a paid spokesman for a drug company? Or held personal beliefs incompatible with the treatment you want? Right now, in the US at least, your doctor simply doesn’t have to tell you about that. And when physician Leana Wen asked her fellow doctors to open up, the reaction she got was … unsettling.

What your doctor won’t disclose

Emergency physician, public health advocate

Trust in medicine is eroded when patients discover hidden conflicts of interest or values at odds with their own. After finding her mother’s oncologist was a highly paid drug company speaker, one woman sparked a campaign for doctors to openly share not just credentials but financial ties and personal beliefs. Despite fierce backlash from peers, the movement grew as patients demanded the right to know who is caring for them. Total transparency, she argues, can transform fear and suspicion into genuine connection and better care.