Good sense and judgment are usually shown by both parties.

But a doctor can hardly complain if he and other colleagues of his are booked by the policeman who once waved a doctor on his way, only to see him turn his car into the golf course and not into the hospital.

Patients often ask the doctor for a certificate stating they are ill so they can use up their sick pay from work.

To agree to do this when the patient is not, in fact, ill is a criminal offence, and the doctor is guilty of fraud, and such a charge is sufficient for the medical board to consider his deregistration.

And yet patients still ask their doctor to carry out this service and appear upset if he refuses.

Some patients go directly to a specialist without a referral, then come back to their own doctor later and request a referral dated prior to the appointment.

For in this way the patient gains a greater rebate from Medicare or his private fund.

The practice is illegal. It is perpetrating fraud. The patient may ask, but the doctor should always refuse. The patient should clearly understand the reasons why.

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Most people seek medical advice at once as they fear they may have had a stroke.

A short course of cortisone is often given to reduce the inflammation and nerve swelling. Most cases respond over weeks, or occasionally months, with no after-effects.

In about 3 per cent, complete paralysis persists. Partial paralysis remains in a little more than 5 per cent.

A hook attached to the teeth may be used to hold up the drooping edge of the mouth and prevent overstretching of the muscles until they recover.

Several operations have been devised to overcome the deformity of persistent paralysis. The “static sling” uses a strip of fascia — thin connective tissue, usually overlying muscle — to thread through the facial muscles and hook them to the bones of, and above, the cheek.

This tries to create natural folds of expression around the mouth and to make both sides look the same. As its name implies, the result is static. There is no muscle movement when the other side moves.

A considerably more ambitious procedure is a nerve graft.

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