Shocking!

In the New York Times Well blog, we get a pointer to a Reader’s Digest article called “41 Secrets Your Doctor Would Never Share” (funny how they shared them anyway, but never mind). Over on page 3 of the article is a list labelled “Shocking Stats”. Which of the items on the list doesn’t belong with the rest?:

• 60% of doctors don’t follow hand-washing guidelines.
• 96% of doctors agree they should report impaired or incompetent colleagues or those who make serious mistakes, but ...
• 46% of them admit to having turned a blind eye at least once.
• 94% of doctors have accepted some kind of freebie from a drug company.
• 44% of doctors admit they’re overweight.
• 58% would give adolescents contraceptives without parental consent.

Yes, indeed, where did that last item come from? “Shocking”? The only thing I might be shocked about would be that it’s not higher. But I don’t think that’s what they meant.

Do we think they’re a bit conservative, perhaps? Well, they do have Lynne Cheney on their board of directors.