This happens when people become doctors for the wrong reasons. If you want to make money go sell real estate, you'll make a lot more and wont work as many hours. Don't mess with people's lives, they are not machines, once they are gone you can't bring them back. This is highly unethical and doctors who engage in this kind of predatory behavior towards their patient should not be allowed to practice medicine ever again.

I was told by a doctor after asking to have my Vitamin D level tested "Vitamin D? you're too young to worry about stuff like that.." (I was 26). I insist, and he calls a few days later to say 'You're severely deficient, under 20 nmol/L which is below the sensitivity of the test". Your health is really in your own hands... can't trust doctors to do it for you.

And in 2021 she says traveling in your own state is not a right

This video didn’t age well.

A step in the right direction, but do you know what I want most? A doctor who respects and listens to me. A doctor who makes recommendations based on what they believe is best for my situation. I want a doctor who doesn't talk to me like I'm too stupid to understand basic biology, a doctor who will tell me, in detail, what they think is going on, and possible solutions. I've suffered various problems for 20 years now, and I have seen many doctors. I'm still suffering, and I'm beyond frustrated. Am I going to have to go to medical school just to figure out why I feel like garbage? Can I no longer trust anyone but myself? Why does it have to be this way?

transparency is a form of honesty. honesty is a form of love, and love is the key to the new world.

I wish Dr Wen was our family doctor. For several years we were blessed to have a husband and wife team for our doctors. They were the best -- They always treated their patients as people - not just a body filling an appointment time. We need more doctors like Dr Wen.

"I'm American, and I'm already here." Pure gold.

I was at a psychiatrist's office once and I noticed that on her desk she had a mug with the word Cymbalta on it. Guess what she prescribed for my depression? Against my better judgement I took it, and it doubled my depression and anxiety. I very nearly killed myself.

This is why my clinic does what it does. Our motto is "your symptoms tell a story and we listen," and the important part is that we listen. And it's why we don't have to advertise, even with insurance companies (and let's face it, most doctors "take" insurance" because then they don't have to find patients themselves - it's marketing more than payment). The therapeutic relationship is key to all healing relationships. And it's why I am busy. My patients send more patients to me. And the other doctors' practices we work with also refer to us for more complicated cases. It's about medicine, but the outcomes are diminished without an honest and open therapeutic relationship, no matter how talented a doctor is. Dr. Wen is absolutely spot on. I have serious respect for her.

I'm a Family Physician in Ohio. I fully support Dr. Wen and this disclosure project.

And in 2021, I have lost all trust in doctors, pharma, and government.

A very sincere and brave human being. I'm quite sure the majority of doctors would not be signing up for sure, and I am rather surprise that TED even allows her to talk or hasn't pull this video off air yet. The world needs more of such honest , genuine and beautiful person like her, doctor or otherwise.

According to Hippocratic Oath, shouldn't doctors already be fully transparent with their patients?

She makes a lot of sense and brings up some points that shouldn't be allowed to remain in the shadows. A Dr that represents a certain drug or drug company clearly has a conflict of interest when it comes time to prescribe medications to you. I'd much prefer a Dr with her openness than most of this dr's that keep a wall between you and them.

Mrs. Wen raised a gutsy kid. Sometimes it only takes one person to make a difference. Sometimes you are that one person.

She is terrifying. Someone needs to stop her.

Although I don't necessarily agree with the speaker's values, the beauty of her proposal is that I don't need to. If doctors take a stand by their values, patients will be able to choose whom to trust. The tricky part is how to keep these declarations honest and how to make sure that government doesn't pursue the doctors whose values go against current political correctness. 

You simply cannot argue that patients should not be told that they receive money from drug companies.

I'm appalled by the amount of bullying Dr Wen received.

Awesome human being.

I wish we could find a GP as caring and knowledgeable as our dog's vet.

Letting patients submit reviews on their doctors might be useful as well. If the doctors won't disclose, let the patients speak.

A brave, wonderful human being.Wish there were more like her.

I don't trust my doctor one but. I have really bad asthma and I told her I don't want to keep taking preventive tablets for the rest of my life and asked what should i do ? Was there any alternatives ? Does excercise help ? She told me I have to take them no matter what and do not excersise much ... I did not take her advice I quit the tablets after 3 weeks of running and I don't have asthma any more ... They are paied to give you prescriptions I don't believe they are interested in your overall wellbeing. They don't know a lot about nutrition or excersise just medicine. But great nutrition can cure 90% of disease !!!!!!

I am truly shocked at the backlash from doctors towards this initiative, largely due to the ethical promises that they made when becoming a doctor. Doctors make a social compact to work in the best interest of their patients. Medical ethics are fundamental to the work that is done by physicians and are an important basis for the patient-doctor relationship. The people in Wen’s study report that they value the doctors’ unbiased judgements, along with competence and similar personal values. These are all areas of autonomy of decision making that are central in medical ethics. The respect for autonomy by doctors is even more important than that of other healthcare providers due to the personal nature of the doctor patient relationship. Disclosing possible conflicts of interest is central to appropriate ethical behavior for physicians. Patients are expected to share more and are put in a very vulnerable position in this relationship, to request this information is not stepping over the line.

I am so proud of my father, a totally transparent physician :')

What a great idea... Honesty and respect in the doctor - patient relationship... What a hero you are, America need people like you!

I found Dr. Wen's perspective on doctor-patient relationships to be truly inspiring.

Thank you so much Leana Wen for being part of bridging that gap. We should stop basing our decisions on fear, especially where people's health is concerned. Keep up the excellent work!

6 years later and she’s TRAFFICKING in “the sickness of Fear.” Your mom proud of you Leana???

fast forward to 2021 and she fell back on her own words and Joined the SS. so sad.

Leana Wen does an incredible impression of a human being here. If you just ignore all her facial expressions and all body language cues…she really might pass for a real person.

those doctors that told her that stuff when her mother was dying were cruel and self serving. Showing no compassion for the patient. Good for her!

at the end she drops these ideas of improving "health outcomes" and addressing "smoking cessation"...so the goal presumably is to control and profit off of the people through social impact bonds. that's one reason why doctors might want to gain your trust these days.

Why can't all doctors be like her? Wouldn't they be less exposed to lawsuits if they were transparent?

I have heard a lot of stories about dentists in the US over diagnosing cavities when there are actually none. Get a 2nd opinion if they say you have more than 3.

I love this idea! This way we can see where the money is going. If the doctor has incentive to give out a particular prescription or do a certain procedure. Transparency is key to patient safety. This may help dredge out the corruption in the industry.

I want a doctor who wont advocate for me being a second class citizen and implementing social credit score systems in my country.

What greatly contributes to this problem as well is that we're such a litigious society. It might be less so now, but a good many patients for a long time didn't know that doctors and health care scientists are trying to do their best, rational, most intelligent and educated guesswork. The learning never ceases!!

She is so right on every point. It has taken me over 40 years to find a doctor that could equal the doctor I grew up with, the same one that delivered me and took care of my whole family.

Thank you Dr Wen. I hope that this becomes a movement in medical practice. My wife died 2 yrs ago due to medical malpractice, and conflicts of interest.

Wen needs to be stripped of all accolades and put in a straight jacket.

If you want full-transparency, we need to address the issue that is well understood by pharmaceutical companies... "A PATIENT CURED IS A CUSTOMER LOST" Our monetary based socioeconomic system is the root cause of all the aberrant behavior we are experiencing not just among doctors,it's time for a evolutionary shift, please watch the documentary "PARADISE OR OBLIVION" or not....

I know doctors can be very arrogant, especially specialists, but a real bomb?! What happened to the hippocratic oath? That's the doctor that needs to be sanctioned. Wouldn't total transparency reduce exposure to lawsuits? Would separating the diagnosing doctor and the doctor that performs the procedure reduce incentive based conflict of interest?

Thank you for you work Dr. Wen

Unfortunately, I am not shocked about some other doctors reactions! I live in the uk and I fear our beloved NHS is heading the way of elsewhere, even at family doctor level it's sometimes hard to find someone you feel comfortable with. I love the locum doctors, usually young and interested! So refreshing! Xx

Dangling carrots is a worthwhile grift.

Dr. Wen you are a compassionate and brave person. The world needs more people like you. Thank you for being you.

well said thank you. I have Lyme so I have been hating the medical field for a long time. I long to find a doctor that cares. But having limited funds has made it pretty hopeless.

RESPECT for this brave Doctor!

Wow! I am a native Baltimorean. We are so honored and blessed to have you as our health commissioner. You truly have a kind and caring heart for all people. I was touched as I heard you speak about ypur love for your grandfather at the Caregivers Conference at Morgan. I know you are a great wife and mother. Peace, blessings, and continued success.

This is just one more reason why I avoid doctors if I can.

I wish I had a doctor like Dr. Wen - a real person who sees the doctor / patient relationship as a PARTNERSHIP. It goes two ways!

YOU GO GIRL... Thank you for showing me what a beautiful, strong woman you are. Thank you for showing me there is hope for me to step out and walk as myself. Thank you...you kept on going when so much was against you amd have shown us to believe in something special and make a stand for that belief. May God continue to bless everything you put your hand to.

It is really touching. I just lost my grandma few days ago. Her mother let me think about my grandma again.I miss her so much!

Great topic and great idea. Thanks!

Now she's a big pharma herself.

"I'm American and I am already here" ... okay I almost cried! Tears of joy though!!!!

God bless you Leana! Please keep it up, you are our voice for our rights with our doctors. I hope you and the population get millions of transparent doctors. We desperately need this trust and we have to be good and ethical with the doctors who gain that trust. Eliminate all fear and you get an inspired society. When this change happens that you Leana are talking about, i am no longer going to feel like just a number when i visit the doctor's office and ultimately i will feel like i'm in control.

Finally, someone who can tell the truth about much of our medical profession . What a brave woman!

A common thread among many affluent families is a fact that their children are generally pressured to chose a "profitable and respected" profession for themselves. This is why we are now stuck with the existence of the criminally minded medical doctor who is willing to commit the terrorist threats Dr. Wen described in her experiences. I can only apologize that this post isn't as helpful as it is refectory. Thankfully we also have good doctors like Dr. Wen to choose among our medical professionals; and her website is a brilliant start in finding them!

Thank you so much for your talk. You talk about fear of being in a regular hospital.as a professional have intense fear now of even seeing any doctor after being traumatized by being hospitalized in a locked psychiatric hospital many times. I was abused by staff and other patients. I have now lost everything.

This is a powerful message. My father is 91 next month. Dementia. Hiatal hernia. This month, he spent five days in hospital after 1/2 his stomach got pinched / inflated into his chest cavity. Vomiting "coffee ground" blood. After day 3, he pulled out his stomach tube. He came out of the hospital with a "wait and see" plan. And a catheter. The secondary treatment of the catheter is likely prolonging his life. He wasn't urinating and he was becoming toxic... and more confused. After an initial 1400 cc of urinary relief, he was sent home. The home care nurses are gone now. But it was the courageous nurses... NOT the doctors... who gave us the REAL prognosis... the REAL expectations... and the KNOWLEDGE of what to prepare for... medically. But they also hinted at what to prepare for legally. My family will never forget these nurses. They have offered my dad the dignity and respect he deserves. They offered my family the TRUTH when doctors hedged their bets and hid behind fearful restraint.

I'd let her be my doctor any day, but I wouldn't remember anything she said because I'd be bashful and shy because she's so beautiful inside and out

I want her, or someone like her, as my family doctor.

Im crying so hard dr. Wen! Thank you! Thank you very much, and God bless you!

Our doctors incomes are all disclosed, now I know why they are so polite and cheery to private patients, and treat public patients like dirt.

Thank you! Too many times in my life I've been in that corner of trusting a doctor who shouldn't be trusted... The list is loooonnnggg. HCV is near the top of it HVC from a TRANSFUSION at LA County General in 1969 after another doctor gave me birth control pills to deal with a pregnancy. "This will start your period" he told me after running a pregnancy test on me. Another lie to add to the collection that I heard throughout my childhood ("This won't hurt"), all the mistakes in diagnosis because it was easier (and cheaper) to eyeball the patient than to actually run some tests or use common sense.... Believe me I know my body well. I live inside it every day, sleep with it all night. Have for 65 years. Irks to hear that I don't know what I'm talking about! Much of the problem (excluding that doctor is god arrogance they teach in med school) the assembly line approach to medicine that has become the norm in this country. "NEXT!" Relying on the Big Pharma "paint over the symptoms" approach to actually seeking the cause and fixing it. More money in the Big Pharma technique. The patients come in and come back and come back for refills and reactions. Pharma pays off with lunches and kickbacks.... It could be a profitable scam. Until someone like me walks into the office. I'm allergic. I refuse Big Pharma for colors, excipients, and unpredictable side effects.

This is kind of unsettling as someone whose father is a doctor and as someone who looks up heavily to the medical community. I agree to other comments I viewed that these are cases of people that became doctors for all the wrong reasons. A doctor and patient need to have a good relationship; it is their job to keep people healthy to the best of their abilities. I do not want to have a doctor that chose the profession for the money that does not truly care about the profession or helping people in need. I also believe that some of the situations described are also due to the kind of world we live in. You cannot see a medical commercial without the last ten or more seconds of the commercial listing off all the side effects. This is because we live in a world where there is always a lawyer waiting to pounce on a possible law suit against some drug company or hospital. This just puts fear into the profession causing patients to be turned down because they are a high risk and no one wants to take the chance of being sued and possibly losing their job.

Dear Dr. Wen.... You are truly one of my Sheroes. No exaggeration. Thank you for your courage, kindness and tenacity in the face of those who direct ignorance and hatred against you. I pray for your safety and for all you need to sustain you in this work!

Thank you for bringing light into this matter! Keep it the good work!

ROFL wow this aged BEAUTIFULLYYYY!!

2021: Get your clotshot, because, reasons... - Leana Wen

It already is very difficult to sue doctors. My friend just had to pay $15,000 last Monday to have corrective surgery on a botched surgery that she had no recourse for.

Dr. Wen，how fortunate we are to have you as a doctor. Very proud of you and thank you！

I would like a doctor like her, seems pretty open

This is why us as patients turn to doctor google... great talk :) you spoke so well. Well done to go beyond and not hiding like so many of them!

A Dr with a touch of humanity. how rare.

When the patients have any doubts on you, you're never going to get your patients' trust. Don't ask the patients why they want to know any conflicts of interest that you have or any profitable relationship you build with the insurance/pharm companies, ask yourself why you're hiding these types of things which are affecting their well-beings. If I were the patient, I would like to know how my doctors see me and if they are doing the best for me. I am now a pre-med and I would like to work for patient's best interest. Dr. Wen is such an incredible doctor and human being!

I have so much respect for her. Thank you Leana

The ideal candidate to feign transparency if you wanted to dangle some kind of carrot

Good for you. Time and time again I have doctors that actually talk with me a couple minutes and rush out without listening to me. Other doctors have told me that my listening to my body has saved my life (when other doctors wouldn't listen).

I'm so lucky, my Doctor sits down with me and asks how I'm doing every time I go in. He genuinely tries to help me. I've literally kept him as my doctor for that reason, even when i had to switch insurance companies or pay out of pocket. When i told him I couldn't afford it after losing a job, he told me my visits would be free after that and he would figure out payment later. Even though it was for minor check ups, it made me feel like somebody cared. Because of that, I felt comfortable enough to go see him when my depression was at its worse. And he helped get find a proper psychiatrist and some support groups. Kudos to all the Doctors and Nurses out there right now putting their lives on the line to fight COVID19.

THIS SHOULD BE LAW!!!!

Ms. Wen you are a hero.

Thank you for your bravery & initiative. Patients need transparency & full disclosure from their doctors so trust can be established. Thank you so much!

A great talk. Thank you Dr.Wen.

I love you dr.wen!! Keep going :)

Let's read Amendment 9 to show that she has no idea what she's talking about: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

I had to go to a podiatrist in Germany for bilateral plantar fasciitis. The first surgery went well, but my scar had a deep seam. On the next one, I woke up with a cast. When the doctor came in, he said that the chisel skipped and he chipped my heel. I appreciated his candor. When the cast came off, my scar was thin and level.

Do NOT EVER give up! Truth, honesty, transparency are needed in every aspect of our lives.

Brave Woman! TNX for the video!

Keep up the good work Leana, you are totally awesome.

Dr. Wen. You are on the right track. You are my hero. Smart, brave, articulate, and caring. We need more honesty and transparency in our lives!

Wow! Great talk. Thank you for saying out things from my heart. I had doubted them for a long time. Thank You Dr Leana Wen.

I wouldn’t trust this psychopath to mow my lawn! Pound sand!

This is a brilliant idea and wish more doctors were apart of it. Cuz I know first hand emotion can impact treatment. People who are happy and motivated bounce back from terrible belts problems like cancer. But if you have any doubt, that can cause a emotional roller-coaster that will ultimately result in a negative treatment response. So this idea needs to be grasped if we want to better efficient in curing difficult health problems.

My mother had a DNR/DNI in place when I found out what palliative care meant, for my family at least. This really resonates with a transparency I would've appreciated (not being in the medical profession) during what wa arguably the roughest experience of my life.

You're a very compassionate, ethical, and articulate person. Thank you for being on the right side of this issue.