1.   Ask your physician for a referral.

2.   Ask any physician.

3.   Ask your physician for a copy of your medical record, which should include lab results, reports from specialists and other information.

4.   -- Ask your physician for a cheaper drug or generic.

5.   Ira Katz, owner of the Little Five Points Pharmacy in Atlanta, recommends asking physicians for higher doses, then cutting them in half.

6.   It took a couple weeks for Sackett to get the nerve to ask his physician just how close he came to dying.

7.   Many teens worry that if they ask a physician for birth control or need treatment for an STD, the doctor will tell their parents.

8.   Physicians are being asked to report suspected cases to local health departments.

9.   When I asked several seasoned physicians about this, each advised me to ignore the misery and focus exclusively on learning the mechanical details of patient care.

10.   Physicians were asked about medical interventions they believed they should be permitted to perform if requested by a competent, terminally ill patient.