13 Doctors Share the Things That Patients Are Most Likely to Lie About

Doctors hear all kinds of answers when they start asking questions that patients would rather avoid. People may forget a few details, minimize a habit, or confidently insist they follow every medical recommendation to the letter. Sometimes the lie is obvious, while other times it takes a test, an examination, or a few follow up questions to reveal what is really going on. It is rarely about patients trying to deceive their doctors for no reason. Embarrassment, fear of judgment, and anxiety about what comes next can all play a role. Here are fifteen things doctors say patients are most likely to lie about.

Smoking

Doctors say patients frequently insist they do not smoke, even when the smell, stained fingers, medical history, or test results make the answer fairly obvious.

Medication Compliance

One of the most common answers doctors hear is that patients take every medication exactly as prescribed, even when prescription records or pill counts suggest otherwise.

Alcohol Consumption

Patients often downplay how much they drink, sometimes describing heavy drinking as an occasional night out despite evidence that tells doctors a very different story.

What They Ate Before Surgery

Some patients insist they have had absolutely nothing to eat or drink before a procedure, even when they have actually eaten recently, something anesthesiologists consider especially important to know.

Recreational Drug Use

Doctors regularly hear patients blame a roommate or someone else for the smell of marijuana when the evidence suggests otherwise, making drug use one of those subjects people apparently feel particularly uncomfortable admitting.

How Often They Exercise

Patients sometimes describe themselves as much more active than they really are, especially when they know their doctor is going to ask about exercise and lifestyle habits.

Their Diet

The supposedly healthy diet can become surprisingly flexible when a doctor starts asking specific questions, with patients minimizing how often they actually eat foods they know they have been advised to avoid.

Missing Doses

Some patients claim they have only missed one or two doses when the reality is considerably different, often because they are worried the doctor will lecture them about not following instructions.

The Real Reason for an Injury

Doctors and medical workers sometimes hear elaborate explanations for injuries that clearly do not match what happened, including the classic claim that someone simply “fell” onto an object in an unfortunate location.

Their Medical History

Patients occasionally say they have no significant cardiac history while simultaneously having obvious physical evidence such as a pacemaker, surgical scar, or signs of previous major procedures.

Flossing

Dentists apparently hear plenty of optimistic answers about flossing habits, even when a patient’s gums provide some fairly immediate evidence that the claimed routine may be more aspirational than accurate.

How Long Ago They Quit Smoking

“Yes, I quit” can mean very different things in a doctor’s office, with one Reddit response describing a patient who said they had quit smoking that very morning.

How Much Their Symptoms Affect Them

Patients may minimize or exaggerate symptoms depending on what they believe will happen next, making the doctor’s job harder when trying to determine what is actually happening rather than what the patient thinks they need to say.