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Since most pediatricians regard the hubbub over the possible risks of vaccines as silly (which it may be) and the growing trend among some parents not to vaccinate as dangerous (which it almost certainly is), I'm sure those docs thought they were doing us hysterical moms a favor by fudging the truth. And 20 years ago, we may never have realized what they were up to. But these days, any parent with a PC can do a quick Google search to determine the exact degree to which their physicians are treating them like children. Even the most obscure medical studies are easily accessible. Forget Dr. Spock. I can peruse Danish researchers' findings on the connection between bed wetting and the color blue or whether being exposed to Donald Trump in utero makes my daughter more likely to fail the third grade.
Is this sort of home diagnosis a good idea? No. Are Type A parents going to do it anyway? You betcha. But this only makes it all the more urgent that we have access to approachable, communicative, truthful medical professionals who can talk us down off the ledge when we become convinced that our child's hay-fever sniffles are actually the onset of avian flu. I'd offer you the marvelous Dr. P.'s number, but I'm afraid that if his reputation spreads he'll be swarmed by desperate mommies. I wouldn't want anything to cut into our quality time together.