medical observations

I don't remember the title, but it was by a Dr. Rattner who, according to the brief bio, was a longtime AMA member and chief of surgery at Oak Park Hospital.

Dr. Rattner began by saying that the article was not a clinical treatise, but simply his attempt to record a few of his observations as he completed 30 years of medical practice.

His first observation was that every day, about one out of 10 Americans go to some medical practitioner -- doctor, clinician, nurse, etc. -- with some kind of complaint: an ache here, a pain there. He said it was his opinion that at least half of them had no diagnosable physical problem. Oh, he didn't deny that they hurt, but he maintained that half of them had no physical cause for the hurt. So he would do what so many of his colleagues did in such a case: He would give his patients an aspirin or a placebo of some kind and tell them to call the next day, if necessary. Most did not call.