"what transgender individuals were asking for: that doctors should take their self-reported condition more seriously and be more willing to support experimental approaches even if they pose real health risks if that’s what the patient feels they need"
Fine for adult patients, not fine for child patients, especially if they have parents who think that their kids should not be the subject of medical experiments. https://pitt.substack.com
MarkS: thanks for commenting. I think the issues involved in treating children are much more complex than in treating adults. It was beyond the scope of my piece to go into that question. For adults, though, I wanted to draw a comparison that I think cuts both ways. Do we go too far in letting patients determine the contours of their care? Do we not go far enough? To say that either answer is possible -- which is what I believe -- is to acknowledge that the standard needs to come from somewhere other than the source of authority, that both "obey your doctor" and "give the patient what they want" are slogans rather than real guides for practice.
"what transgender individuals were asking for: that doctors should take their self-reported condition more seriously and be more willing to support experimental approaches even if they pose real health risks if that’s what the patient feels they need"
Fine for adult patients, not fine for child patients, especially if they have parents who think that their kids should not be the subject of medical experiments. https://pitt.substack.com
MarkS: thanks for commenting. I think the issues involved in treating children are much more complex than in treating adults. It was beyond the scope of my piece to go into that question. For adults, though, I wanted to draw a comparison that I think cuts both ways. Do we go too far in letting patients determine the contours of their care? Do we not go far enough? To say that either answer is possible -- which is what I believe -- is to acknowledge that the standard needs to come from somewhere other than the source of authority, that both "obey your doctor" and "give the patient what they want" are slogans rather than real guides for practice.