When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests

Joshua Kosowksy, MD, Clinical Director of Emergency Medicine

In this examination of the doctor-patient relationship, BWH’s Joshua Kosowsky, MD, and his co-author Leana Wen, MD, argue that diagnosis, once the cornerstone of medicine, is fast becoming a lost art, with grave consequences. Using real-life stories of cookbook-diagnoses-gone-bad, the doctors illustrate how active patient participation can prevent these mistakes. Wen and Kosowsky offer tangible follow-up questions patients can easily incorporate into every doctor’s visit to avoid counterproductive and even potentially harmful tests.