Beat a doctor

Posted by ESC on January 14, 2004

In Reply to: Phrase in local paper posted by nowino on January 14, 2004

: Anyone know the meaning of "The best way to beat a doctor is not to look like a pharmacist."?
: Thanks.

That is puzzling. Here is a guess: Patients, especially new ones, are often asked to bring in the medications they are taking. My mother didn't believe in taking medicine unnecessarily and so she didn't have many prescription bottles to present to her doctor. He told her that most people her age (70s) came in with a big bag of medications. So maybe this means if you are taking so many medications that the doctor mistakes you for a pharmacist, you may be damaging your health and thus providing more "business" for the doctor.

Said another way, a person with good health habits wouldn't be on much medication and wouldn't be mistaken for a pharmacist.