I wish I could say I'm shocked and surprised but sadly I'm not. I'm just glad these docs are very much in the minority. Recently I attended a GPs emergency call for an elderly lady with chest pain. En route received a message from the GP to specifically request we did NOT treat the pt but simply transport her to hospital! No ecg, nothing. This in spite of the fact he had categorised the call as a blue light emergency as he thought the pain was cardiac in origin. The reason given was that he did not want to worry her! Well, she's old you know; would be a shame to spoil her day with a spot of bad news. Needless to say his request was ignored, ecg showed she was infarcting with widespread ST elevation, she WAS treated for the MI the GP quite rightly thought she was having but chose not to treat and was admitted to CCU where she was thrombolised and is making a good recovery with minimal myocardial damage. Her previous excellent quality of life may now continue for several more years. No thanks to the perfectly pleasant but inept family doctor who showed an incredible disregard for the wellbeing of one of his patients who trusted him to look after her to the very best of his abilities. Maybe having an excellent quality of life is of little significance if you're of advanced years. Let's just write you off. Doctor knows best after all! And they get paid how much....?! Makes you despair sometimes...