Doctors take advantage of life or death decisions

When a salesman is trying to sell you something, he often tells you how much better your life will be if you buy it. When a doctor is trying to sell you something, the usual line is: how much your life will be destroyed, if you don't. It's the most effective selling strategy I've ever seen. After all, it is your life in his hand.

The threat-as-selling strategy had never occurred to me until I visited a well-known orthopedic hospital in Beijing for an ankle injury.

Though I am no athlete and I don't wear high-heels, I still managed to sprain my ankle several days ago. At first I was blas about it, after all a sprained ankle is a very common injury. So I didn't go to a doctor until I found I could barely walk on my right foot the following day. By the time I arrived the hospital, I had prepared myself for the worst-case scenario, a fracture or a broken bone. Either of which would lead to a cast and bed rest.