Geriatricians Can Help Aging Patients Navigate Multiple Ailments

Geriatricians Can Help Aging Patients Navigate Multiple Ailments
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For months, Teresa Christensen’s 87-year-old mother, Genevieve, complained of pain from a nasty sore on her right foot. She stopped going to church. She couldn’t sleep at night. Eventually, she stopped walking except when absolutely necessary.

Her primary care doctor prescribed three antibiotics, one after another. None worked. “Doctor, can’t we do some further tests?” Teresa Christensen remembered asking. “I felt that he was looking through my mother instead of looking at her.”

Much of what we do is get rid of treatments prescribed by other physicians that aren't working.
Dr. John Morley, professor of geriatrics, Saint Louis University
Judith Graham
Judith Graham
Author
Judith Graham is a contributing columnist for Kaiser Health News, which originally published this article. KHN’s coverage of these topics is supported by The John A. Hartford Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and The SCAN Foundation.