Choosing sides hurts us all

When I tell people about my blog and website, they often ask questions like "Whose side are you on?"  The implication is that healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies… and patients… are all on warring sides, each with a different agenda.  And if you aren’t on the patient’s side, you are one of the bad guys.  This is an oversimplification and doesn’t represent reality.  Picking a side and demonizing the other side is all to common in the US right now and, when applied to making healthcare decisions, it leaves newly-diagnosed patients feeling like they have to battle enemies on all sides to get what they need.  I encourage newly-diagnosed patients to be empowered — educated, emotionally prepared, and with a solid support system.  But I also encourage them to focus their energy on working with the healthcare system, accepting that the system is under tremendous financial pressures, and to not assume that they are victims unless they turn everything into a battle.  We are all in this together.