[dbbolton]

>"Oh, is he on <some blood pressure medication I forget the name of>?"

I'll bet the farm it was lisinopril, or another ACE inhibitor. The ACEI cough is notorious enough that any 1st year medical student probably should have been able to piece this together.

The problem is not that those doctors were ignorant. It's more likely that they did not ask the right questions to get a proper history. You should ask every patient to list their medical problems and medications unless it is a routine follow-up when nothing has changed.

Something else that can happen is patient ignorance (and I am not insinuating your dad was guilty of this, or making a value judgment on people who are).

Often times you can't get a proper past medical history or medication list unless the patient brings all of their prescription bottles to the office. E.g.:

>"What medications are you on?"

>"Well, I'm on a sugar pill, a water pill, a cholesterol pill, a stomach pill, and some allergy medicines."

>"Ok, do you know the name of that sugar pill?"

>"It's a little white pill. I think it starts with an 'F'. No wait, I'm thinking of my water pill."

or

>"Do you have any medical problems?"

>"No."

>[glances at meds list] "Ok, so why do you take metformin, hydrochlorothiazide, atorvastatin, omeprazole, cetirizine..."