Googling symptoms when ill? This doctor has a special fee structure

The "special" OPD fee structure that has been doing rounds on social media. (Image credit: @gdalmiathinks/Twitter)

Tired of patients looking their symptoms up on Google before consulting him, a doctor in India has designed a special fee structure for such people.

A poster put up at the unidentified doctor's office lays down the OPD charges like this:

If patients rely on the doctor's diagnosis and treatment, they have to pay only Rs 200. But, if patients insist on a different type of treatment after getting diagnosed by the doctor, the fee spikes to Rs 500.

Moreover, if people who have looked up their symptoms on Google want to clear their doubts, they will be charged Rs 1,000. The fee climbs higher if the doctor is asked to suggest a course of treatment that the patients have diagnosed while surfing the internet. Doing so will cost them Rs 1,500.

But, what takes the cake is the last category. If patients decide to look up their symptoms on the internet and decide to treat themselves, it may end up costing them Rs 2,000.

This doctor gets it totally right!!! pic.twitter.com/iW9Ou8UVwO

Related stories

• 
  X (Twitter) down as Cloudflare outage triggers global disruption
• 
  Kantara Chapter 1 Twitter review: Netizens praise Rishab Shetty, Rukmini Vasanth's performances, oth...
• 
  Mirai twitter review: Netizens hail Teja Sajja, Manoj Manchu's acting, cheer Prabhas's surprise voic...

— Gaurav Dalmia (@gdalmiathinks) June 1, 2022

While the poster was put up in jest, there is some truth in treatments being eventually costlier if patients choose to diagnose and treat themselves without consulting a doctor, especially if they are wrong.

Read more: Woman charged $40 for crying during doctor’s appointment, Twitter united in outrage

Twitter users seem to agree with the doctor.

Good one! Also wld recommend to watch this song, especially in an era when ppl do their own medical research.https://t.co/TCXoLWRh9V

— Sid dalvi (@sidspeaksup) June 2, 2022

Most of us would end up paying 1000 :-) Once I put my doubts in front of the doctor. His reply as a question was so embarrassing. "Did you check this on Google ?" !!!

— junaid (@aamirjunaid) June 3, 2022

There were, however, some who found nothing wrong in looking up their health problems on Google because it helped them understand their condition better.

Brilliant but some doctors themselves don't know the root cause of problems, they experiment, so what's the harm if worried patients do a little bit of R&D and ask questions? The Dr can politely clear their doubts and continue the treatment! Today doctors don't empathise patients

— Vinod Shukla (@Vinodthewriter) June 4, 2022

I do not agree with you. The subject also understand the effect of a particular medicine and can sometimes do self medication based on historical data. Many doctors give a wide spectrum treatment which they do as they are unable to identify the cause.

— nabarun (@nabarun66) June 5, 2022

So, if you were to visit this doctor, how much would you end up paying? Let us know in the comments.