The patient sat on the examining table and listened to the doctor. The emergency was past, the patient was back into all daily activities and routines, the numbers looked good, the tests indicated normalcy. "You can go off the blood thinner or you can stay on it," the doctor said. "If you go off, you risk another blood clot and death. If you stay on, you risk a brain bleed and death." "I don't know. What should I do?" the patient asked. "It's up to you," the doctor said. The patient stared at the doctor. Weren't doctors doctors because they could advise you as to the best course of action? Surely this wasn't how it was supposed to go, being given a choice without any indication of what action was better?

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