48 Becoming a Patient
Because of such self-doctoring efforts, lay patients may be more
straightforward to treat than doctor-patients. Herb added:
It was easier for nondoctors to see my role as I saw it, and under-
stand: ‘‘Come into the office. Let me treat you like a patient.’’ Docs
would say, ‘‘I’m busy; I can’t do it this week.’’ Other patients
would say, too: ‘‘I’m busy at work.’’ But I can pull rank on them.
With the docs, it was hard to put my foot down. Some talked back.
Herb did not feel strong enough in his beliefs about appropriate stan-
dards to argue.
Practicing ‘‘Research-Level Medicine’’: Aggressive Treatment
Many ill physicians not only self-doctored, but approached treatment
decisions more aggressively than they standardly would for their patients.
Some practiced ‘‘research-level medicine’’—using less proven, experimen-
tal treatments that were ‘‘off-protocol,’’ not yet approved for the partic-
ular use in question. These behaviors offered insights for lay patients as to
what else patients might do if they had the knowledge and professional
connections of physicians.
For centuries, doctors have self-experimented. But here, this tendency
appeared as part of a larger trend: of physicians approaching risks and
benefits differently for themselves than for their patients, accepting dif-
ferent