June Bingham's heartfelt anecdote [1] makes worthy reading for any practitioner. It does, however, raise several inadequately explored issues.

If one accepts the author's description of her internist as a "good doctor," it is highly unlikely that he willfully made an incorrect diagnosis initially. He lacked either knowledge or sufficient information. In either event, as a good physician, he would appreciate feedback on his error so that he may learn and improve his diagnostic acumen for future use. Otherwise, this is a lost opportunity for him and his other patients.

In a similar vein, did his teenager actually deliver the telephone message on that fateful weekend? Maybe he is still unaware that Ms. Bingham called. Did his physician-wife relay to him the information on Ms. Bingham's hospitalization? If the internist was (or still is) unaware, then the issues are different from those portrayed. If he was aware, was he now too embarrassed to call the patient in follow-up? And, if so, shouldn't this flaw be raised with him so that it can be averted in future dealings with other patients?

Without investigating the circumstances and without talking to the physician, it is impossible to determine how a "good doctor" would allow this to happen. It is a disservice to him and his other patients not to discuss these events with him in an effort to convert a negative interaction, with a near brush with death, into a more constructive use of a perceived poor process. It would be a waste of a perceptive patient's observations and concerns if the internist were not made aware of them.