A study says that patients can manage some chronic illnesses. It dangerously suggests that patients adjust their own hypertensive medications:

They ask why the methods patients use to take care of their own diabetes — monitoring blood sugar, injecting insulin, evaluating how well they are doing and adjusting dosage — can’t be expanded to other conditions. In one study they cite, patients with hypertension successfully used home blood pressure monitors and adjusted their medications when they needed to.

Once again, the ivory tower spouts out a study out of touch with the real world. Medications like insulin and hypertensive medications can have dangerous and life-threatening side effects. If a self-treating patient gets hurt by their own doctoring, guess who will be on the hook? A hearty “no thanks” to that malpractice risk.

I wonder what’s the next great idea they’ll come up with:

Update:
Apparently the source mistakenly quoted the study. It is now amended (changed text in bold):

They ask why the methods patients use to take care of their own diabetes — monitoring blood sugar, injecting insulin, evaluating how well they are doing and adjusting dosage — can’t be expanded to other conditions. In one study they cite, patients with hypertension successfully used home monitors to lower their blood pressure and stay on their medications.

Big difference. Home monitoring for medication adherence is fine. Having patients actively manage and change doses of their medications is not.