Dumb Patient's Cause Doctors to Give Bad Care?

I like The Huffington Post, but some of the posts on there are way out there! Like Dr. Elaine Schattner's little post entitled Doctors Need Time To Think. She says if people were more educated about health care, then there wouldn't be medical mistakes! Really? Come on Elaine, are you really going to blame the patient for medical errors? Why yes she is! And here is her direct quote, "When people are sufficiently educated that they can understand what their doctors tell them, know what they read and get basic math and science concepts, they're less vulnerable to misleading information." This is ridiculous! How about the doctor learns how to communicate with his patients on their level of understanding? Cause I'm pretty sure the 75 year old dementia patient will not be able to recite Einstein's theory of relativity! Or the two year old orphan...Elaine, try explaining some chemistry to that poor baby...and if that baby doesn't understand that chemistry, and there's a bad outcome with his medical care, well it's all that baby's fault...right Elaine? Come on down from the ivory tower Dr. Schattner. So if a doctor is explaining how chemo drugs will affect the body, and the patient says he doesn't understand, what are you going to do, send them for some college calculus classes!?! Bottom line...If the doctor can not adequately explain something to a patient...then the doctor needs to try a different approach...and again if necessary...until the patient can verbalize understanding. Shame on you Dr. Schattner.
Laura Giesman NP