With consumer-directed care a health care industry reality, several things are becoming clear. On the plus side, customers like having the sense that they have decision making-power on important treatment decisions, in contrast to the 'powerlessness' they felt during the early HMO decade. One of the problems however, is that consumers may not always know enough to direct their care. And when they do direct it, they may direct it in the wrong direction. A physician discusses his mixed reactions when a patient pushes for antibiotics in this piece from the New York Times. Story