Without my consent or an explanation of what side effects I might expect, and most notably without a full understanding of my condition, Dr. Torres ordered a nurse to administer an intravenous dose of dexamethasone, a powerful steroid that has caused many problems for me since my stay in Cayuga Medical Center ER more than three weeks ago. In the past, I’ve been treated with prednisone, a considerably less potent steroid that has posed minimal side effects, and has been equally effective in reducing nerve inflammation. I was not asked if I might have a problem with taking dexamethasone; I was not told what long-term or permanent effects might occur if I took it and continued with a nine-day oral course of therapy; and, perhaps most egregious, was that it was administered without the doctor’s clearer understanding of what might have caused my radiculopathy in the first place. Dr. Torres had not even interviewed me first to find out my history, which included a very recent diagnosis of Sjögren’s disease with associated chronic neurological problems of as-yet undiagnosed origin. Instead, he relied on old hospital records on file that dated back several years. Finally, based on his “research,” he also refused to consider my suggestion that the neurological pain I was experiencing might be associated with Sjögren’s disease, even though I told him I was scheduled the following week for treatment at Johns Hopkins Medical Center with a neurologist there specializing in the disease.