The editorial in the Jan. 25, 2000, issue of CMAJ accurately captures the concern that Wayne Gretzky's advertisement for an osteoarthritis medication legitimizes symptomatic treatment at the expense of primary prevention.1
There is another significant issue that arises from this endorsement by Gretzky. The text of the advertisement has Gretzky stating that he is taking medication on "doctor's orders." This blanket assertion of subservience strikes at the heart of a healthy patient-doctor relationship based on partnership, information and trust. Gretzky does all of us, patients and doctors alike, a further grave disservice by acceding to "copy-writers' orders" to perpetuate a stereotypic cliché.
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