Then there is stuff they handle extremely well: broken bones, bacteria, and a variety of easily treatable ailments.
I have a few health issues I know I basically can get no medical help on. And then, on the other hand, I had MRSA, and went to the doctor ASAP to get that cured.
I'm just saying (with way too many words) that there are reasons other than stoicism or machismo that people avoid going to the doctor. Were I the OP, I too would have not gone to the doctor for seemingly mild symptoms, and would have suffered as he/she did.
Most of us have no good way of knowing which issues are medically treatable and which aren't.
But you got a point: they suck at preventing CVD, which is a shame.
You didn't have breathing problems when you asked for an appointment; you had a cough. Then when you had breathing problems, you sought out emergency care and had that taken care of. But you blame your original doctor for... not predicting your breathing problems? Or not giving you lung x-rays the moment you diagnosed yourself with pneumonia? I'm confused what you would rather they have done.
The missed allergy sounds like a legit failure, though, but I'm not a doctor.
Other than having more doctors in the world (thus higher availability) and/or lower prices, I don't think this is a solvable problem. My point was not that doctors are terrible, but that people may have decent reasons to suspect going to the doctor for a mild rash (as article had) would not be worth it. Reasons other than stoicism. When I have a cough now, I still don't go to the doctor because the last 4 trips have been "You have bronchitis, just wait it out". I've resigned myself to having a constant low-level cough between Nov-Mar every year.
I do think my allergies should have been detected, but at the same time I understand the reasons they weren't. My goal was not blame, though I can certainly see how my pity-party comment could sound that way.
i had step throat, they refused me antibiotics because although i had all the classic symptoms, the strep test was negative. a bottle of penicillin i had at home cured me pretty quickly.
i had pnemonia, i told them this was the sickest i have ever been in my life. my whole body was in pain and i had trouble breathing, especially at night. they told me to drink water and rest. after 2 weeks i got another appointment, i was in really bad shape. they told drink water and rest. 3rd week same, but i refused to leave. i reminded them i lost 40lbs, only then did they take a real look at me.
> "Not necessarily their fault" I do put the fault on them. i think there is something around 'white male, send them home' mentality.
Not necessarily their fault (medical science is trying to debug a program that you don't have the code for, do not control/know all of the inputs to, and you risk killing them if it crashes) but they've failed me time and time again in diagnosis, effectiveness, and availability, and in the US they were a financial burden until I was fortunate enough to reach the point my budget could take a hit.
This has built a habit of assuming that if I'm not in intense pain, visiting a doctor would be a waste of time and money.
I got pneumonia once. When the cough seemed serious I asked for an appt, but it took several days and by the day of I was struggling to breathe. Ended up going to an urgent care clinic hours before my appt because I was genuinely worried I wouldn't make it to said appt if I waited. The clinic agreed, given that as I walked in to their crowded lobby they heard me rasping and bumped me to the head of the line. I had four people on me at once, giving me oxygen, taking vitals, and one entering the numbers into their computer. I could see the screen, and saw that a few entries triggered a "the number indicates a critical problem, is it accurate?" warnings. They told me later that at 1 percent lower oxygen (i was 92%, which apparently low) they would have sent me to the emergency room. I'm glad they didn't, as their care beat any ER visit I've had, and was only $100, which included lung xrays. An ER visit would have been worse just walking in the door. Still worth it when they can help me breathe, but it demonstrates one reason why one can avoid doctors for seemingly non-serious ailments and conditions, particularly with all the times they've shrugged.
I'm allergic to most everything that won't kill you (pollen, mold, dust mites, cats, dogs, even rats). I have a list of issues with this, mostly constant sinus production/drainage, but only learned it was allergies when I self diagnosed in my 30s and went to an allergist to confirm. Even then, the cause that was dramatic enough to clue me in (rats) was not part of the standard panel. I had to specifically request it...and then point out that they hadn't added it as they said they would. That ended up being so severe that the tiny scratch swelled to the size of a half dollar despite me being on benadryl (i had missed the instruction to skip such meds for the test) AND the calamine lotion they slapped on it almost immediately. Had I not asked for and checked for that test, the specific problem of the moment (my girlfriends pet rats) would have remained undiagnosed (I had a list of potential causes of an uptick in problems, not awareness of any specific one). Not one doctor growing up suggested an allergy test, even though I can now look back and see obvious signs. Not one doctor asked if my symptoms occurred at specific times or places, not one ever mentioned the high constant drainage or inflamed ear canals. (Though doctors offices are pretty allergen free. As a kid I joked that their ugly paint made you feel better, since by the time a doctor came to look in on me my worst symptoms weren't there...in retrospect the repeat experience should have been a clue to them and possibly my younger self) Instead they called it mild asthma (asthma test was negative, but shrug. My guess is that they called it that just to make me feel they had a clue)
Machismo is a problem, but it isn't the sole problem.